Nine Beats for Your Soul

Welcome to the Kardia Community Newsletter!

Thank you for subscribing to the Kardia Communty newsletter. You have heard the old adage, good things come to those who wait, and that is especially true of this. It has taken me way too long to begin this and I could throw a million reasons at you why it has taken this long, but sufficient to say, now is the time for new beginnings. Some of you have been with Kardia since we were first a dream of an organization and some of you are new to the party. No matter who you are or how long you have been here, we thank you for your support. My hope is to have this be a monthly rhythm and begin with a guided reflection, offer a practice and then update you on what is happening with Kardia.

Welcome to the community. We would love it if you left a comment at the end with where you live and share something you are finding joy in these days. We are better together than we are alone. When we lived in Africa, I learned a proverb that said, “If you want to run fast, run alone. If you want to run far, run together.” It is good to be together with you.

Guided Reflection

When Jesus comes out of spending 40 days alone in the wilderness, he has something to say.

If you spent 40 days alone in the wilderness without company or the comforts of modern life, what would be one of the first messages you would have for people?

Soon after the wilderness experience he gathers some young men that have been passed over by everyone of great importance and chooses them to learn the ways of his Kingdom. He comes to a hill where people are gathered and he begins to teach his disciples and the crowd that had heard of this new Rabbi (teacher) who has a fresh message.

First century historians place the sermon that is recorded for us in Matthew 5-7, what we call the “Sermon on the Mount” but would be more accurately referred to as the “sermon on the hill” since the location was more of a sloped rolling hill and not a high mountain.

This is a photo I took on my last trip to Israel in 2016 of the hill of Beatitudes near the village of Tabgha where Jesus would have taught this sermon. I would not mind gathering with people here for a sermon anytime.

When I read the Bible I am always longing to immerse myself in the original world of the people that first heard these words we read. Years ago, there was a pastor who felt the same way. The late pastor and author, Eugene Peterson, took the original languages and wrote a 21st century translation to have a bridge to understand the world of the Bible for us today and called it The Message.

In the passage below, Jesus wants people to know the beats of the Kingdom of God These are the nine beats for you soul. Read these words slowly.

Matthew 5.1-11…

When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed with him. Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down and taught his climbing companions. This is what he said:

You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.

You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.

You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for.

You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.

You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom.

Not only that— count yourself blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.

There are several things that stand out from this that I want us to contemplate. I love how at the start of the reading, the people with Jesus are referred to as “climbing companions".”

Who are the people in your life that are helping you on your journey?

Do you see them as climbing companions when life is good and when it is not?

I also love at the end, Jesus reminds us that sometimes when we live this way, we will get into what John Lewis called “good trouble.”

What “good trouble” have you been in that connects to the way of Jesus?

These nine statements Jesus makes here, where each one begins with “you’re blessed when…” can be seen as the Ninefold path of Jesus. My friend Mark Scandrette came up with that description and I think it is really beautiful. He says, “these are nine beats of the way of Jesus that cause us to flourish if we order our lives around them.”

They could be summed up in these words below…

Practice

Take some time and sit with these questions. Rainer Marie Rilke encourages us to “live the questions.” Maybe journal about these words from Jesus and these questions here:

Which word of this list most stands out to you?

Which one do you more naturally practice in your life?

Which one is most difficult for you to live out?

What do you think God is saying to you through these words from Matthew 5?

Kardia Community Update

Each month we want to update you all what is going on here at Kardia. Maybe it has been a while since you have visited our website, but we have made improvements to it. You can see them here - Kardia Community

We have some events coming up that we want to highlight…

Beatitudes Ninefold Path Learning Lab

Starting on Sunday night, March 2, I will begin a 10 month online cohort that will go through the Beatitudes from Matthew 5 in a group experience. We will meet on the first Sunday night of each month.

After our intro session in March, we will spend one month on each of the Nine Beats with some teaching by me, some Zoom breakout groups and practices and journalling that people do outside of our big group gatherings. You can find out more info and sign up to join us if you would like. Everyone is invited to be on this path with us!

We will also be starting a Thursday Night cohort that will begin on April 10th.

Soul Care Retreat ~ March 13-16, 2025

LOCATION : Monastery of Christ In The Desert, Abiquiu, New Mexico

Holy space to heal from where we’ve been AND reimagine a new way forward.We’ll explore a vision to help calm our hectic lives, practices to sustain our weary souls and bodies, solidarity with others on the journey. We will provide tangible tools to put Jesus’ words into personal and communal practice.

Cost of Retreat: $475

(Includes 3 Nights of Lodging, Meals & Retreat Materials)

We only have a few spots left.

REGISTER HERE

Spiritual Direction

We also offer individual spiritual direction and you can schedule a session with Matt here

Spiritual direction is a conversational and prayerful relationship of seeking God together through the journey of life.

The goal of spiritual direction is not to solve specific problems or address symptoms, but rather to help you understand and live out your unique spiritual path. One of the key benefits of spiritual direction is that it can help you gain a deeper understanding of yourself and your purpose in life.

Sessions are 60 minutes and the cost is $75.

You can schedule a session HERE

Let us know in the comments what kinds of things you would like to hear about in our monthly Guided Reflection space and I will do my best to make them more relevant to the needs of our community here.

It really is a joy to do this work. When we began Kardia, our hope was to care for people that are caring for others. We seek to help.people move from pain to purpose. Thank you for being with us on this journey.

Grace and Peace

Matt Nash, Founder of Kardia Community