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请你试试把手握成一个拳头，然后捏紧它，现在想像一下，你的心就像是这个样子：紧捏着、关闭着，非常用力和绷紧，弄到差不多有点痛——然而，奇怪的是，比起让人闯进来伤害你，这种绷紧的状况反而令你觉得比较安全。

来听听耶稣这篇有力的训诫，祂一开始便宣告说：“虚心的人有福了……。”耶稣好像在说：“你当然想捏紧你的心，因为它感到不满足，它受了创伤，倍感疲劳，它受到恐吓，就像遭到袭击那样，它试图要保护自己。”然而耶稣也知道，一颗紧捏的心，也可能会把神的爱拒之门外。所以耶稣邀请我们，要毫无遮掩地打开我们受伤和疲惫的心灵，祂好像在说：“不要再假装了，要老老实实，接受你自己的脆弱。你的心灵是空虚的，但你想向周围的人掩饰真相，于是你便把心灵捏紧。不要再执着了！心灵空虚是不需要掩饰的，它其实是蒙福的途径呢！”

多年前一位朋友告诉我，她在上大学的第一天，见到室友后，很快便发现该室友是一个刚强和高深莫测的人，实在有点令人生畏。后来的几个星期，她便小心翼翼地和室友相处。有一天，她上完课回来时，发觉室友正在饮泣；互相拥抱后，她们便一同商讨问题所在，结果她们找到了新的方法来共处。只要大家开诚布公，这种“死而后生”的祝福便会临到，这件事就是一个实例了。

Make your hand into a fist, clenching it tight. Now imagine that your heart is like that: clenched, closed, so tense and tight that it almost hurts—but in a strange way that tightness feels safer than letting anyone in to hurt you.

Listen as Jesus begins a powerful sermon, declaring, “Blessed are the poor in spirit. . . .” It’s as if he’s saying, “Of course your heart wants to clench up. It feels inadequate; it is wounded and weary; it feels threatened, like it’s under attack. It wants to protect itself.” But he knows that a clenched heart might also shut out the love of God. So Jesus invites us to open our hearts, just as they are, wounded and weary. It’s as if he is saying, “Don’t pretend; be real; be vulnerable. You are poor in spirit, but you want to hide that from people around you, so you clench your heart. Let it go! Being poor in spirit is not something to hide; it’s a way to be blessed!”

Years ago a friend told me that on her first day of college, she met her roommate and quickly discovered that this person was tough, hard to get to know, and actually a bit scary. She tiptoed around her for a couple of weeks. Then one day she came back from class and found her roommate weeping. After a hug, they talked things through and found a new way to handle dorm life together. That’s an example of a “dying to live” blessing that can come from being open to one another.