Dear friends,
Blessed Are the Others is now a full week old and already blessing others. I’ve been so encouraged by your feedback and reviews on Amazon. Here’s three:
“This book is Andrew’s superbloom.” Chase
“Andrew DeCort wrote a moving, powerful book that will change your mind & your life if you let it.” Ellen
“I am looking forward to finishing this book already! It’s a page turner so far!” Carole
Today I’m delighted to share an excerpt from Blessed Are the Other’s introduction. I call it “The Trailhead to the Way.”
I hope you enjoy the journey and consider buying the book, writing an honest review on Amazon and GoodReads, and sharing it with your networks.
Blessings!
Andrew
The Trailhead to the Way
For James Baldwin. Thank you for your honesty.
“The great problem is how to be – in the best sense of that kaleidoscopic word – a human.” James Baldwin
In this trailhead to our journey, I want to map out some of the terrain we’ll travel together. We’ll explore what “blessing” means, why Jesus is a worthy guide, and how we can navigate his eightfold path with its brilliant twists and our cultural pitfalls.
Like so many epic quests, I begin with a simple question: What is the Beatitudinal Way of Jesus?
The word “Beatitudinal” sounds a bit odd, I admit. But “beatitude” comes from the Latin word beatus. And beatus simply means “blessed.” Today we call this flourishing, wellbeing, the good life. It’s fulfilled humanity. It’s authentic happiness.
Said differently, then, what is Jesus’ way for living into the ultimate desire of the human heart? How do we become humanely happy?
At the beginning of his public movement, Jesus announced this way to an unlikely crowd of people. They were people familiar with physical suffering and mental illness. They came from different places and clashing cultures. Almost all of them were subjects and survivors of Rome’s violent empire. James Baldwin called them a collection of “disreputable” and “improbable” people.
Jesus spoke eight blessings to these people, each accompanied by a promise. I find whom Jesus blesses and what he promises them downright brilliant and beautiful. Before anything else, this is what Jesus wants to say to us – his strange wisdom for how to become human. When he says “blessed,” he’s really saying happy.
That’s what the Beatitudinal Way is: Jesus’ invitation to become humanely happy. Like Moses before him, he climbed a mountain on the outskirts of the empire. And like the rabbis of his time, he sat down and compressed his teaching into a compact “way.” It’s a fresh imagination and set of practices for becoming our best selves, together, in our world, now and always.
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Blessed Are the Others: Jesus’ Way in a Violent World (Washington, DC: BitterSweet Collective, 2024) is out now on Amazon and wherever books are sold! Consider buying the book, leaving a review, and spreading the word in your networks!
