During the last year, I have read through the Sermon on the Mount on a number of occasions, and each time I have been astonished by the profundity and specificity of Jesus’ teaching on how to truly be Christian in the world. The most recent time was in January, when the educators in the district where I teach went on strike. The dispute had gone on for over a year, and it seemed as though a strike was the only way to draw attention to some of the greatest needs of our students and staff.

We went on strike on a Thursday night, hoping that negotiations could take place on Friday and over the weekend, and that we could be back in school on Monday. But that’s not how it turned out. Instead, we were asked to march, picket, canvas, rally, and shout for five hours a day in the coldest part of the year. I prayed daily to understand that there is one Mind, and that this Mind helps each of us to know what we need to know at each moment. Because we are all Her loved expressions, we can be open to new ideas, communicate respectfully, and love one another, even – or especially – those who seem to be on the other side of the dispute.

Every morning these prayers helped me get up and go out into the cold, but as we got into the second week of the strike, a deep sense of discouragement threatened to overwhelm me. That’s when I saw that I needed to really dig into the Sermon on the Mount, particularly the Beatitudes. I reasoned that humanly, I could not control the weather, or the thoughts of the school committee, or the media coverage of the dispute, but I could focus my thoughts on the spiritual truths Jesus gave us.

It was so comforting to see that many of the Beatitudes seemed to start in just the mental place where I was: “How happy are those who know their need for God” (Matt. 5:3, The New Testament in Modern English, J.B. Phillips). That certainly was me. It was clear that nothing but God was of any use in this situation. But then came the promise, “for the kingdom of Heaven is theirs!” Of course! If love of God and an abject recognition of our need for Her is the kingdom, then we are there!

I reasoned my way through each of the Beatitudes until I got to the one about persecution: “Happy are those who have suffered persecution for the cause of goodness, for the kingdom of Heaven is theirs!” (Matt. 5:10, J. B. Phillips) Certainly, my colleagues and I were feeling persecuted. The social media had gotten ugly and some parents were beginning to turn against us. It felt as though we were being actively hated. Yet here was Jesus, who knew a thing or two about being persecuted, telling me that I was in a blessed state. Again it seemed clear that all of the Beatitudes pointed to the need for total humility – an admission that “I can of mine own self do nothing.”

I won’t say that things got easy, but they did become possible from then on. Despite all that was going on around me, I felt a real closeness to God and an ability to listen for what to do each day, each moment. Some days, that meant marching and chanting to keep up the spirits of the negotiating team; other days that was going door-to-door to talk to community members. Always it was a deep spiritual appreciation of the person right next to me as we walked or picketed – whether it was a colleague I knew well or someone I was meeting for the first time.

After eleven days, the dispute was resolved and we went back to school. Eventually, what I learned became so much more important than what was hard about that period out of school. That learning has stuck with me, changing me, even if in a small way. Now in my daily life I am more inclined to listen, not for what I need, but for what I can do to help, to serve. I can see that humility is the road to gratitude, and gratitude is the road to peace, no matter how difficult the circumstances. And peace truly is the kingdom of heaven within.