To be Counted Amongst the Blessed

When Jesus gives his Sermon on the Plain in Luke 6:17-26, it is easy for us to retroactively interpret these blessings and woes so as to receive the former and evade the latter. But as we listen more intently to Jesus’s words and the very meaning of blessedness, we are all challenged to not presume a state of ease and comfort as we await the Kingdom of God.

What does it mean to you to be blessed? Is it something that is earned, or is freely given? Something that is reserved for the few, or is open to all willing to receive?