‘He hath a daily beauty in his life that makes me ugly.’ This is Iago’s back-handed tribute paid to Cassio in Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’. We might all aspire to earn such a commendation and we can all think of elements in the Sermon on the Mount that are surely applicable. But there is no individual in the Gospels or Acts who receives such a tribute. We must ask why.
People like pick’n’ mix in their confectionery and in their religious belief. They are exercising their inalienable right to do so and we have to be grateful that there is that much acknowledgment of what is important in our lives. The outcome of taking to heart the Golden Rule should make for an attractive character whatever the belief that drives such a process.
An ungrudging, cheerful temperament is a boon and a blessing in life (as it used to be for a Waverley pen-nib). Some happy people are born with it. Others have to work at it. When that temperament is a starting-point, the Cassios of this world are well and away. This kind of beauty is a beauty of behaviour. It can be seen in the lives of saints (even the bad-tempered ones) and of those in the caring vocations. Patience is a notable element; so is a delight in other people’s happiness.
In the New Testament the Sermon on the Mount is followed by three incidents in which Jesus meets a human need. We hardly need such an example. The Sermon is a launch-pad for a career of care and help that need no explanation. ‘What you are is shouting so loud that I can’t hear what you say.’
INSIDE OUT
‘Our vision is that God is calling us to turn our church inside out,’ says Dan Clark, the Vicar of Shirley, Southampton. The church is organising communities of mission and expectant about changes. It has a particular interest in Enable Bosega, working in Uganda, and includes five marks of mission on its website. The church has an evergreens club.
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