"Makarios" unfolding

Since reading yesterday's lovely blog post by Joyce Voysey, I've re-visited the Greek word "makarios" which has been translated in the Sermon on the Mount (King James Version of the Bible) as "blessed".

Here are two meanings of the word makarios:

 - fully satisfied

 - joy independent of all chances

I like that meanings of words (ideas) can unfold to us. 

And I like the example of unfoldment shared at a recent online testimony meeting of The Mother Church.

A Sunday school teacher gave each student a sheet of newsprint and asked them to fold the page over as many times as they could until it was very small with just a few lines of print being visible. 

The students were then asked to read the story on that page. Of course, they could read very little. 

The teacher then instructed them to unfold the page just a little. Now they could read a bit more of the story. 

Little by little, more of the story was revealed as the number of folds was reduced, until finally the page lay completely open and the whole story was plainly visible.

Julie Swannell

Blessed

Alexei Navalny, Russian patriot and Putin’s great critic, when imprisoned and treated harshly by Putin’s government, was comforted by the Sermon on the Mount. So much so that he learned it off by heart. He added to that accomplishment by also learning it in English, French and Latin! In his autobiography, he spoke of the experience as “a delight.”

 

At a court hearing, his testimony referenced the Sermon, particularly Matt. 5:6, saying, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be satisfied” declaring this as his “guide for life” and a reminder that millions of Russians long for truth.

 

I’m reading the New Revised Standard Version of Harper Collins Study Bible (NRSV). It points out that “Jesus both interprets the old law and offers a new law, recalling the revelation to Moses in Mount Sinai.”

 

Some versions of the Beatitudes give “happy” where the King James Version (KJV) has “blessed.”

NRSV also offers “fortunate” in its notes. Happy seems weak to me; fortunate reminds me of luck.

NRSV stays with “blessed.”

 

Dictionary offers for “blessed”- Adjective: Made holy; consecrated. Endowed with divine favour and protection. Noun: those who live with God in heaven.

 

Matt. 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. NRSV says, “The heart was considered the region of thought, intention, and moral disposition.”

 

Matt. 5:17. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets: I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” AI says, “This means Jesus came to bring the Old Testament scriptures (the Law and the Prophets) to their ultimate purpose, not to destroy them, by perfectly embodying their moral teachings, fulfilling messianic prophecies, and demonstrating true righteousness, thereby completing their meaning for believers.” That sounds quite scientific to me.

But I haven’t come up with a quote from Mrs. Eddy yet.

Joyce Voysey

Overcoming self

 In the Christian Science Sentinel dated 16^th February 2026, Tony Lobl writes:

For our own sake and the sake of those near and far whom we wish to see blessed, every step of overcoming self through the light of Christ is lessening the darkness in collective human consciousness.

As I read this, I was reminded of Christ Jesus’ teaching in his Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5: 14):

You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. People do not light a lamp and put it under the bushel basket; rather, they put it on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. (NRSVue)

It may seem that being the “light of the world” diverges from “overcoming self”. But it’s not the human self which shines; it’s allowing the Christ light to shine through us and our work that lessens the darkness of despair, depression, and despotism, and defuses un-Christlike behaviour.

We become the transparency, as explained by Mary Baker Eddy in the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures:

The manifestation of God through mortals is as light passing through the window-pane. The light and the glass never mingle, but as matter, the glass is less opaque than the walls. The mortal mind through which Truth appears most vividly is that one which has lost much materiality — much error — in order to become a better transparency for Truth. Then, like a cloud melting into thin vapor, it no longer hides the sun.
(SH 295:16)

The more light, the less darkness.

Collective human consciousness benefits from this unselfed, focused, unstoppable Christly light of love which shines through each one of God’s children to heal, harmonise, clarify, forgive, and empower. This force is irresistible.

The Christ is here, all dreams of error breaking,

Unloosing bonds of all captivity. 

(Rosa M. Turner, Christian Science hymnal 202 and 412)

Julie Swannell