(a) Try composing an alternative set of ‘beatitudes’, based on popular opinion.  How would these compare with the ‘real’ beatitudes taught by Jesus?

(b) Rudyard Kipling spoke of his ‘six honest serving men’:-

I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why
and When And How and Where and Who.

Interrogate the beatitudes by asking questions such as…

• Who are ‘the poor in spirit’?
• When will ‘the meek inherit the earth’?
• Why will the peacemakers be called ‘sons of God’?

…and so on.

(c) Which of the beatitudes do you find most challenging in your own life, and why?