A Biblical scholar I am not. This I acknowledge quite freely, because to do otherwise would be disingenuous.

Of course I am a product of the Judeo-Christian faith tradition, for that is what I was born into, as were almost all of us. We are, are we not, that which we came into, grew up in, and in which we were instructed, guided, and through societal pressures were expected to believe.

My personal religious history is ecumenical. I was, as I mentioned, born into the Christian faith tradition; specifically, the Methodist denomination. My paternal grandparents, whom I never knew, were a part of the Methodist-Episcopal Church, South.

I attended, in my early years, Saint Agnes Academy, a Roman Catholic school right here in our little town. I was baptized and later confirmed in the Methodist Church, of course.

For one year, my first in college, I attended Wake Forest, which was affiliated with the Baptist denomination.

While in the service, stationed in Germany, I regularly attended church services and sang in the choir at our post’s chapel, which held non-denominational Protestant services. Being a part of that ministry was very important and special to me.

Then, not so very many years later, I was married in Saint Peter’s Episcopal church here.

So, if I were pressed to actually label myself, in a religious sense, I suppose I would be “all over the place,” figuratively speaking. A touch of this, a bit of that, and so forth. I like to think of myself as really being a Freethinker. But that’s another story, one that doesn’t need telling. Certainly not here in the Bible Belt.

All of which, in much too lengthy a preamble, leads me to this: I love the eloquence, the didacticism, of so much to be found in Proverbs and Psalms. It is good reading, and often so applicable, should we elect to make it so.

Then there’s Matthew. Ah, Matthew. The first of the gospels in the New Testament.

And there’s Matthew 5, to me the most powerful of all. We are informed, instructed. (Would that those with certain political perspectives read this chapter, if nothing else.)

What “radical” things Jesus said. Just who did he think he was? Saying such things as “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Then, a bit later he said, “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.” Well, maybe so, but not anytime soon.

And “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” That word seems not to have gotten out quite yet.

How about this one: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” Maybe so. But it won’t win them votes in an election year.

Then way down in verse 38 we are told “ . . . But I say to you, Do not resist one who is evil. But if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also; and if any one . . .”

Well. You can see where the rest of that was going. If you have the inclination, check out “The Beatitudes.” Matthew 5 is one tough-to-live-up-to set of principles. An understatement, for sure.

It ends with “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly father is perfect.”

Makes you feel as if you are just about always coming up short.

Makes you wonder.