This week in the series tackles two Beatitudes or blessings together, and that is not an accident. One is intricately tied to the other. Mercy flows from a heart that is pure and undivided. This is also a turning point from blessings that are more inwardly focused to those which tie to our lived actions in the real world. You may wonder how purity of heart is external, and we will talk about that. How are these blessings made real, in the flesh so to speak? How do we misunderstand these concepts? (Ex: mercy is more than mere pity or even compassion; purity is more than the misguided, Pharisaical “purity culture” that reduces the concept to ideas about sexuality). How is God trying to work these blessings out in our lives? Let’s continue the conversation and listen to God together.