Blessed Are the Rest of Us
How Limits and Longing Make Us Whole
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About
When Micha Boyett's son was born with Down syndrome and later diagnosed with autism, she was drawn into the ancient teachings of the Beatitudes. There, she found an invitation to honor her limits in a world that values performance, perfection, and strength. Jesus instead calls his followers to embrace meekness, mercy, and the longing for justice. The Beatitudes helped Boyett discover her wholeness in God's love rather than in her own accomplishments.
In Blessed Are the Rest of Us, Boyett shares her insights with readers--especially those who are burned out, tired of performing, living with grief, feeling exhausted, or powerless. She invites them into an understanding of God and themselves centered on belovedness rather than accomplishment. Here is her message: in God's dream for the world, blessing has nothing to do with ease; it's about flourishing, and Jesus promises we find flourishing in our limits and in our longing to see the world made whole. Each chapter centers on the refreshing good news of one beatitude, poetically woven with stories of Boyett's life.
Beautifully reassuring and liberating, this book calls readers to rest in God's rich and abundant love.
Contents
Note from the Author
Prologue: The Dream of God
1. For the Weak Ones
2. For the Ones Who Grieve
3. For the Ones Who Release Their Power
4. For the Ones Who Long for Justice
5. For the Ones Who Give Mercy
6. For the True Ones
7. For the Ones Who Serve Peace
8. For the Ones Who Suffer for Doing Good
9. For the Fearless Ones
Epilogue: For the Lights of the World
Endorsements
"Micha Boyett's Blessed Are the Rest of Us conjures spiritual solutions for very real problems. A graceful, moving book that should be required reading."
Mary Karr, author of The Liars' Club, Cherry, Lit, and The Art of Memoir
"This is breathtaking. Such beautiful writing."
Nadia Bolz-Weber, bestselling author, speaker, and public theologian
"I absolutely love this book. Micha is a trustworthy guide to the deepest places of courage, beauty, pain, and grace within us. Each page is a devastating and merciful invitation to transforming love, the kind that changes not only the world but also our own selves. It cleared a path for me to love an inefficient, complicated, beloved life and to want to follow Jesus all over again. A gift, a gift."
Sarah Bessey, editor of the New York Times bestseller A Rhythm of Prayer and author of Jesus Feminist
"A soul-stirring story of faith and connection. I found great comfort in hearing from Micha, whose child's journey paralleled, yet differed from, my own child's. She expertly weaves God's word into her candid stories. Her unwavering love for God shines through every page, allowing her to extend grace and understanding to those who may see the world differently. So inspiring and uplifting. A must-read for those seeking solace and spiritual wisdom."
Kelli Caughman, cofounder, Black Down Syndrome Association
"Blessed Are the Rest of Us is an important book. With earnest intention for justice and change, Micha Boyett offers a warm and honest reflection about being a mom to a child living with disability. But don't mistake this for just another parenting memoir. This is a powerful narrative, one that will cause you to rethink so much of what you believe about disabilities, equality, and the dignity of others."
Matthew Paul Turner, #1 New York Times bestselling author of What Is God Like?
"Micha Boyett's Blessed Are the Rest of Us is a deeply moving meditation on being a part of, and participating in, the dream of God for us. It makes perfect sense that a poet like Micha would lead us to engage the Beatitudes as poetry and as prophetic. Her stirring rendition is a hopeful light as she shows us how God's dream is the way to see the world in all its beauty and heartache, and she invites us to the kind of loving and living that is a gift. Through the stories of her family's life together, their journey together, I understand blessing in a new way, in flesh-and-blood ways, skin-and-bones ways, tears-and-laughter ways--where our blessedness is not only a wonder but good and true."
Mihee Kim-Kort, author of Outside the Lines: How Embracing Queerness Will Transform Your Faith; co-pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Annapolis, Maryland
"In this achingly beautiful book, Micha Boyett offers soulful, searching reflections on the life of faith in an unjust world. The result is a courageous exploration of spirituality, disability, community, friendship, the good life, and much more. Blessed Are the Rest of Us will move readers to tears, laughter, and back again, cutting a path through it all to the wisdom of Jesus, the dream of God, and strength to live in a troubled world."
Peter Choi, executive director, Center for Faith and Justice; author of George Whitefield: Evangelist for God and Empire
The Author
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© Lexie Scott Micha Boyett
Micha Boyett is the author of Found: A Story of Questions, Grace, and Everyday Prayer and a contributor to the New York Times bestseller A Rhythm of Prayer, edited by Sarah Bessey. She is cohost of the award-winning The Lucky...
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