Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

The word ‘filled’ chortazo really means to be fed. This is one of the hottest topics for humanity today: what are we being fed? With regards to food: is it genetically modified, does it contain harmful additives, does it contain gluten or other substances that are no longer tolerated by some people, or do we have enough food?  With regards to the media: what stories are truthfully reported and what stories are made up? Whose opinions have been thoroughly thought through or who just shoots their mouth off with no thought at all? Or do we seek to be fed by having others understand us or appreciate us? What about our own ability to feed ourselves, what occupies our mind and our time?

Hunger and thirst are very powerful forces within us. They ensure our survival in this physical world. They are an alarm telling us to feed ourselves or face death. When we experience either hunger or thirst we cannot rest until they are satisfied. Chortazo also speaks of the satisfaction from being fed.  The other thing that hunger and thirst do is make us inwardly aware of ourselves. We realise that we are self-enclosed beings; individual units which are separate from everything outside us. Then we have a choice. Do we experience only ourselves where we might fight others to have the food and the drink for ourselves, or do we experience ourselves as part of a community and share the food and drink?

Righteousness, dikaiosune, means justice in terms of being just, balanced and in harmony. Justice is not about an ‘eye for an eye’ but rather it is about a continual series of adjustments to restore balance and harmony. We could also call it just-right-ness. In my reflections on the Beatitudes in the Gospel of St John written in 2006-7 I wrote the following:

“In the third century BC Aristotle wrote an entire book about dikaiosune. Aristotle’s philosophy was a guide to living in a free society as equals rather than under the care of the tribal elder. This was a time when human consciousness went through a great upheaval. Direct experience of the spiritual world was diminishing so that human beings could develop their ability to think. In these terms, Aristotle was actually the herald of the I AM because he was preparing humanity to become self-responsible, self-directed citizens. Through his insight into human nature he could see, however, that self-interest could sway human motives. He knew how important it was for us to be able to judge when things were ‘just right’.”

It is when we find our connection to our higher self that we will no longer hunger and thirst. We won’t look to be fed by what we eat or drink or by the approval of others, or by the way we use our time. We will experience satisfaction beyond imagining when we are able to adjust our feeling, thinking and willing bringing them into harmony so that our I AM has a place in our daily life.