Epiphany 6C (Luke 6:17-26)

​I used to carry one brown bag everywhere—work, church, errands. But ever since I switched to a smaller shoulder bag for work, the brown bag now only serves one purpose: keeping my laptop for church. That’s where the problem of switching bags comes in—having to transfer valuables like my keys and wallet back and forth. You can guess what happened one Sunday morning.

I left for church early, completely unaware that I had forgotten the key to the church until I arrived at St. Agnes’. That was a big problem. It would take 40 to 50 minutes for a round trip back home to get the key. But God graciously placed Bob in my life that morning. Bob happened to be there, and he had the key to let me in. 

Now, imagine a hypothetical scenario. What if, while driving on Route 80 near Exit 58 in Paterson, I suddenly realized I didn’t have the key? Not ideal, but manageable. What about Exit 61 in Elmwood Park? Even better. But what if I had realized the key was missing right after leaving home? That would have saved me a lot of trouble. In fact, what if I had simply decided to bring both bags from the start, ensuring I had everything I needed?

You may be wondering what this silly little story has to do with today’s gospel. It’s about one key idea: we can only fix what we are aware of. Psychiatrist Carl Jung puts it well: “What is not acknowledged cannot be changed.” And James A. Garfield, the 20th president of the United States, offers a similar thought: “The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable.” I’d add, “And the sooner, the better.”

Now let’s turn to Jesus’ four blessings, which may seem like paradoxes at first glance. How can being poor, hungry, sorrowful, or hated be considered blessings? After all, we don’t normally think of poverty, hunger, grief, or rejection as positive experiences. But Jesus isn’t saying these experiences are blessings in and of themselves. Instead, He’s pointing to what these conditions can reveal to us—what they can awaken us to.

Think about it: being aware that we lack something vital is the first step toward seeking something greater. It’s like recognizing that you forgot your key—it makes you realize what’s missing. In life, the experience of lack—whether it’s poverty, hunger, sorrow, or rejection—can open our eyes to what truly matters. It helps us see that true happiness isn’t found in material wealth, constant comfort, or fleeting approval, but in the presence of God within.

It seems to me there are levels of knowledge: 

1. We don’t know what we don’t know: ignorance of ignorance
   
2. We don’t know what we know: latent knowledge we aren’t fully aware
   
3. We  know what we know: conscious knowledge
   
4. We know what we don’t know: awareness of ignorance
   
5. We know that we know what we don’t know: meta-awareness-understanding where we stand in relation to our ignorance
   

The four blessings call us to reach the final two levels of knowledge. By knowing what we don’t know, we become aware of the limits of our understanding. But it’s the next step — knowing that we know what we don’t know — that brings a deeper awareness. It’s a kind of second-order knowledge, a meta-awareness: awareness of our own awareness, thinking about thinking.

This deeper knowledge isn’t just recognizing gaps in our understanding; it’s becoming explicitly conscious of those gaps, acknowledging the space between “knowing what we don’t know” and “knowing that we know what we don’t know.” It’s a humbling awareness — one that calls us to recognize our spiritual, emotional, and physical poverty, hunger, and sorrow.

In this recognition, we begin to let go of the false promises of the world: wealth that won’t endure, comfort that won’t last, approval that will fade. This deeper knowing calls us to wise living — to a life grounded in what is skillful rather than unskillful. And yes, this process can feel like misery at times, because it involves confronting disappointment: disappointment in the things we once believed would satisfy us.

But it’s through this process that we grow wise. The awareness of lack is not a curse but a blessing, urging us to turn from illusion toward what truly matters. We learn to ask, “Is this behavior or choice leading to stress and suffering, or will it produce something good?” This is the core of skillful living.

In contrast, the four woes warn us about the dangers of unskillful living—chasing after short-term, shallow happiness. They point to a life focused on instant gratification, comfort, and approval, without regard for the deeper, lasting joy that comes from the Breath of God.

Ultimately, the four blessings and four woes present us with a choice: Will we live skillfully, with discernment and awareness, or unskillfully, seeking only what’s easy and immediate?

Skillful living leads to real joy—a joy rooted in the Breath of God, not in what the world offers. The question is, are we aware enough to seek it?

David Bohm “Thought creates our world and says, ‘I didn’t do it.’”
Daniel Kanheman “we can be blind to the obvious and, we are also blind to our blindness.”