Final questions from "Blessed are those who mourn"

I think I have fixed the email connection. Please check and see if you are alerted when I blog. 

Also, please become a "follower", which helps demonstrate that the blog is being viewed.

The final questions from our chapter on mourning in our book:

The Healing Power of the Beatitudes

Eight Steps to Wholeness

Chapter 2

Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. Matthew 5:4

Questions:

1.      1.  Emotional pain is usually harder to face than physical pain.

Have you found this to be true? How much does our culture and societal expectations and taboos play into this statement?

2.       2. Probably the biggest addiction area in our culture is money, and the power and prestige that go with it.

Is money evil? Why does it engender so much evil? Is love of money an accepted societal addiction? How is money related to power and prestige? Lists some ways to hold money, power, prestige in perspective and not let it become an addiction?

3.      3.  Part of mourning is letting the many frustrations of life just wash over us, don’t respond negatively, and move on. With the big frustrations of life, it is facing it squarely, accepting it thoroughly, and then moving on.

How do we assess what is a little and what is a big frustration? How do frustrations relate to mourning? Isn’t mourning for bigger issues? Is responding negatively a choice or inevitable? How do feelings relate to expressed reactions?

4.       4. However, do we have faith in the overriding sovereignty of God? Does God intend good for us? Does he provide for the vagaries of our decisions as well as those around us? Does he “bless our blunders” to “bring about good to those who trust him” (Romans 8:28)

What does God’s sovereignty have to do with mourning? Does God weave our lives with others in such a way that all of our interactions/actions/reactions bring about “good”? Is God’s definition of “good” broader than ours?

5.      5. This says that we are the ones who have been offended. We are the VICTIMS, and our Father in heaven forgives us when we forgive those who have abused us

If you have been victimized (and who has not on some level) how does this make you feel when God is demanding that you forgive them, even if they have not asked for forgiveness? Are you surprised by this mandate? Why is it so hard?

6.      6.  There are no time-limits; there is no deadline in God’s promise of revenge, but there is an absolute guarantee in it. If you are lucky, God may even let you watch.

Why is this statement so satisfying? Does God accept our humanity?