BUCKING THE SYSTEM: SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON: GOD DON'T LIKE UGLY

The riches of this world will buy you a lot, but you don't need a nickel to give or receive a kindness."

Remember the Beatitudes?

For those who need a refresher course (as I did), the Beatitudes are part of a lesson taught by Jesus to describe what kinds of people make God happy. Even if you didn't remember what they were called, you can probably vaguely recall having heard them at one time.

Just think of a fairly long list of verses, all of which start with "Blessed are the ..."

I remember learning the Beatitudes as a youngster attending Class 6 and 7 in my church's Sunday School. Mrs. Pullins, a stern taskmaster when it came to the weekly Sunday School lesson, insisted we learn the entire set of verses one summer.

It was a daunting task for a group of first- and second-graders, but we persevered and managed to stumble and mumble our way through it. Mrs. Pullins pretty much accepted our efforts as long as we stood up straight at the altar and held our hands clasped together at waist level just so.

I remember spending a lot of time with a dictionary as I learned those verses. I mean, really: How many first-graders do you know who can define words like meek, mourn, revile, persecute or righteousness?

As I became able to define these words, I remember wondering where kindness fell in this whole mix. I just knew kindness counted for something in the Bible, because my mother and Mrs. Pullins and my babysitter Ma Mable all said it did.

"God don't like ugly, be it acting or ways," they used to tell me. "The riches of this world will buy you a lot, but you don't need a nickel to give or receive a kindness."

But even with that kind of wisdom being shot at me, I still needed to validate their words with something concrete in the Bible. In my single-dimensioned mind at that time, if He didn't say it it didn't count. Therefore, if the Beatitudes were supposed to tell me what gave God joy, why didn't it include a verse on kindness?

Well, I didn't pose my questions that succinctly as a child, and soon after, I forgot all about the Beatitudes in my quest to learn all the books of the Bible.

Now, how did that song go?

Anyway, I took another moment to reflect on the Beatitudes this week after witnessing a number of simple kindnesses from friends and strangers. Some of the kindnesses were on my behalf, others involved me only peripherally as a go-between for someone else.

As I thought about those kindnesses, it dawned on me that the Beatitudes is a lesson on kindness.

If you look beyond the explicit meanings in the list of people who are blessed in this sermon, you'll realize each verse connotes kindness. You can't be meek, or pure in heart, or a peacemaker, or persecuted for righteousness' sake unless you are inherently kind, can you?

I wish I'd had this information 20-odd years ago, when I was struggling to understand why Jesus took the time (His and mine) to explain all this stuff to us.

But I guess it was a lesson well-learned, even so many years later. It helped me to appreciate the Bible and simple kindnesses a lot more, and it vindicates my mom, Mrs. Pullins and Ma Mable.

They were right, you know. God don't like ugly.