#Blessed?

Many times it's been explained to me that I'm blessed to be born in a free country, to have a job, to always have enough food.
Tag lines like Blessed to be a Blessing, Be thankful for how blessed you are to grow up like this occasionally resurface like old records.
I agree with this, but there is something missing.

If I was born into a war torn nation, or grew up not eating three meals a day... am I no longer blessed?
Why is the blessing of God measured suspiciously similar to GDP and the decile system sometimes?

When I was thinking about all this, I did a Facebook search for #blessed....   Without fail, everything that came up related to having healthy and loving families, holidays to beautiful places, getting promoted, being sickness and injury free and celebrating good times...

But then, I can't help noticing that Jesus' version of #blessed from Matthew 5 has a slightly different flavour of the month.
Blessed are the poor
Blessed are those who mourn
Blessed are the humble
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice
Blessed are the merciful
Blessed are the pure of heart
Blessed are the peacemakers
Blessed are those who are persecuted for their righteousness

Jesus has always been radically counter cultural to the ways of the empire. If His people can look beyond happiness, opportunity and wealth as proof of living a blessed life, we might encounter the deep mysterious wonder of the gospel in a way that we never could living in the fast lane of #blessed.