In the “Beatitudes,” Jesus lays the foundation of his ministry by planting seeds of compassion, mercy and spirituality.
Those teachings have been analyzed and interpreted in a variety of ways since they were delivered. In his new book, “Meditations on the Beatitudes,” Don Clymer, assistant professor of Spanish at Eastern Mennonite University, looks to apply those teachings to real-life situations and truly “live the Beatitudes.”
“I took stories from my time in Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico and paired them with the Beatitudes,” said Clymer. “The cultural context of the marginalized people in these stories is more like the time of Jesus, challenging our comfortable middle class views of what Jesus meant.”
Clymer looks at the contrasting cultures of Latin America and the United States and offers reflections on those differences. Clymer tells a story that goes along with each beatitude to illustrate the parallels and discrepancies in cultures. He then closes each chapter with a meditation and prayer.
Clymer served five years as director of EMU’s cross-cultural program and has worked with Eastern Mennonite Missions and Mennonite Central Committee in Central America and Mexico. Clymer hopes his book offers some insight to the Latin American culture and aids discussions on culture, scripture and living more like Jesus.
“I want people to reflect on how they treat the marginalized, not just on a cross-cultural but down the street or right next door.”
Clymer’s 84-page book is available through Cascadia Publishing House at cascadiapublishinghouse.com/mob/mob.htm for $12.95.