Spirituality, Religion And The Blessed Revolution

By Dave Andrews

Release on Sunday 31st of January 2021

5 - The Blessed Be-Attitude Revolution

Video transcript

I think the Beatitudes is not just for people of all religions, but for people with no religion. In fact, I can remember I was invited by the Skeptic Society in Australia to go to the Red Brick Hotel to … to ... and they asked me to talk about something that they thought would be relevant for them. And so I went to talk to them about the Blessed Revolution of Jesus and looked at the Beatitudes as the personal political dynamics of a transformational reformation. And they loved it because once you unpack those truths, and you set them free from a very arcane religious context, and people actually reflect on those things - that we are called to identify with the poor in spirit, with all those who struggle; we need to enter into their pain empathically; we need to get angry about the injustice; we need to channel our rage creatively in the struggle for justice; our struggle for justice needs to be freighted with mercy; we need to act with integrity in the midst of the struggle; and then work for peace in the midst of war; and suffer violence rather than inflict it. All of a sudden we've got a way of engaging a world of poverty and violence that reaffirms what all human beings, whether religious or not, desperately and deeply want to believe in.

Suggestions for Meditation, Discussion And Action

Talk about the Be-Attitudes in this list with your family and your friends.
Together with them discuss which Be-Attitudes need much more attention.
Then discuss how you can give these Be-Attitudes the attention they need.

Quote from Dave's new book: To Right Every Wrong
"The radical, personal-political Be-Attitudes that are at the heart of the Blessed Be-Attitude Revolution (are):
1 Solidarity
2. Empathy
3. Self-restraint
4. Righteousness
5 Mercy
6. Integrity
7. Non-violence
8. Perseverance "
To Right Every Wrong 49.
Dave's Song: Kindness

From: Dave Andrews And Friends Songs Of Love And Justice - We Believe

Table of content

  1. Spirituality and Religion
    Experience and expression of compassion for the other.
  2. The Gospel Of Jesus – “Heaven on Earth”
    An experience that people can live here and now.
  3. The Beatitudes From The Heart
    Loving our neighbor as ourself.
  4. The Be-Attitudes Of The Beatitudes
    We need to sincerely committing ourselves to do the following...
  5. >> The Blessed Be-Attitude Revolution
    The radical, personal-political Be-Attitudes that are at the heart of the Blessed Be-Attitude Revolution are...
  6. Liberating Jesus From Christianity
    Jesus never intended to start a religion.
  7. Liberating People Of All Religions
    My battle is to fight that people don't have to become Christians in order to relate to Jesus.
  8. Reciprocity As Our Responsibility
    The Golden Rule is a classic example of generalized reciprocity.
  9. People Of The Way
    The Beatitudes of Jesus as a ‘Be-Attitude Revolution’ - attitudes that can help us ‘Be’ the change we want to see in the world.
  10. Contemplation In Action
    Slowing down, so we have the time between our action and reaction and then shape our response in terms of the Be-Atttitudes.

Dave Andrews new book is available: To Right Every Wrong

My latest book, To Right Every Wrong, is a funny, sad, brutally honest retrospective, reflecting on what it has meant for me and my family to seek to live a lifetime dedicated to love and justice. The reflections in this book, subtitled The Making And Unmaking Of One Improbable Minor Prophet, come in three parts — the personal, the prophetical and the paradoxical.
The personal part explores my experience of the radical, compassionate spirituality that I share with my wife, Angie, and which has shaped our way of life as a family in community with marginalized and disadvantaged groups of people.
The prophetical part explores my embrace of the “strange”, “crazy”, “improbable” call I felt to be a prophet, which I have sought to flesh out in classic prophetic roles - as an interrogator, a protester, a practitioner and an inspirator - in contemporary prophetic contexts characterized by poverty and violence.
The paradoxical part explores my making and unmaking as a minor prophet, critically constructing and deconstructing the more confrontational aspects of the prophetic roles I have played in order to be able to practice more sensitive pastoral care.

Dave Andrews other books

Dave has written more the 18 books, you can find all of his books here: Dave Andrew's books.

Some of his well known books

Who is Dave Andrews?

Dave is particularly interested in radical spirituality, incarnational community and the dynamics of personal and social transformation.

Website: Dave Andrews
Country: Australia
Activity: Activist, Community organiser, Spiritual teacher
Keywords: beatitude, change, compassion, prayer, spirituality

Discover more content from Dave Andrews

Dave Andrews has 18 interviews on our website. You can watch all Dave Andrews's interviews here.

Here are some interviews available

Presentation

Dave, his wife Ange, and their family, have lived and worked in intentional communities with marginalised groups of people in Australia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nepal for more than forty years. He now lives in a large joint household with his wife, children, grandchildren and others in an inner city community in Brisbane, Australia.

Dave is particularly interested in radical spirituality, incarnational community and the dynamics of personal and social transformation. He is author of many books and articles, including 'Christi-Anarchy', 'Not Religion, But Love', 'Building A Better World', 'Down Under - In-Depth Community Work', 'Out And Out - Way-Out Community Work', 'Compassionate Community Work', 'People of Compassion', 'Living Community', 'A Divine Society', and the Plan Be Series - 'Plan Be', 'Hey, Be And See', 'See What I Mean?'

Dave and Ange and their friends started a residential community called Aashiana out of which grew Sahara, Sharan and Sahasee – three well-known Christian community organisations working with slum dwellers, sex workers, drug addicts, and people with HIV/AIDS in India. They are currently a part of the Waiters Union, an inner city Christian community network working with Aborigines, refugees and people with disabilities in Australia. Out of the Waiters Union has grown the Community Initiatives Resource Association, auspicing local experimental community activities, and the Community Praxis Coop, providing holistic community work training.

Dave is the coordinator for training with the Community Initiatives Resource Association, a teacher for Praxis and Christian Heritage College and an elder emeritus for Servants To Asia's Urban Poor.

Dave is involved nationally and internationally in interfaith dialogue and engagement. He has published three books of Christian-Muslim reflections - ‘Ramadan’, ‘Bismillah’ and ‘Isa’. Most recently he has published his ground-breaking, peace-making book - ‘The Jihad Of Jesus: The Sacred Nonviolent Struggle For Justice’, which has been translated into Dutch and German. Dave is sharing the message of ‘The Jihad Of Jesus’ with people in churches, mosques, seminars, workshops and festivals around Australia, New Zealand, the US, the UK, Europe and Asia. See events, reviews and interviews at www.jihadofjesus.com.

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