The beatitudes reveal how contrary the values and perspective of the church and the world really are. Conspicuous by their absence from this list are many of those things which the world prizes. Power, popularity, sexual prowess, influence, physical beauty, things which we are led to believe are essential for genuine human fulfillment, are nowhere to be seen in this list. That isn’t to say that there is something inherently sinful in these things. It is to say, however, that they are no measure of