我们研究八福，认为八福里所提及的原则，能够帮助我们达致良好的精神和灵性健康。我认为现今没有任何社会科学家的高深理论，能比耶稣的话更具安抚人心的力量。耶稣说：「哀恸的人有福了！因为他们必得安慰。」我们可以将这节经文作以下的翻译，也不会扭曲了原意：「恭喜那些愿意面对和感受哀伤的人，因为他们会在我给他们的安慰中，并透过那安慰发现新的事奉和新的喜乐。」

一个精神和灵性健康的人是愿意面对和感受哀伤的，并相信哀伤可以深化个人的生命，而不是摧毁生命。我肯定你听过「神经官能症」和「精神错乱」这两个医学名词。患上「神经官能症」的人害怕面对现实，而「精神错乱」的人却不察觉现实。

如果我们不愿意面对和感受从我们内心发出的情绪，那这种对情绪的否认会给我们带来负面的影响。有一位女士曾经对我说：「我觉得第二福很难做到，因为我不知道怎样哀恸；我太快乐了，不能哀恸。」我们倾谈时，她开始明白自己不是不懂得怎样哀恸，而是不想哀恸。她害怕面对或感受任何负面情绪如哀伤、悲痛等等，因此，虽然她宣称自己很快乐和轻松，但却拥有不健全的心灵。

We are looking at as containing the principles which enable us to experience good mental and spiritual health. I cannot think of anything more psychologically in harmony with the best thinking of today's social scientists than the words of Jesus: "Happy are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." We would not be taking any undue liberty with the text of Matthew 5:4 if we translated it thus: "Congratulations to those who are willing to face and feel sorrow, for they will discover in and through the comfort that I impart to them a new ministry and a new joy."

A mentally and spiritually healthy person is someone who is willing to face and feel sorrow, and recognise that it can be made to deepen one's life - not devastate it. You are familiar, I am sure, with the terms "neurotic" and "psychotic". A "neurotic" is someone who is afraid to face reality, while a "psychotic" is someone who is unaware of reality.

If we draw back from being willing to face and feel any emotion that rises up within us, then the denial of this feeling will have negative results within our personality. A woman once said to me: "I have problems with the second Beatitude because I don't know how to mourn, I am too happy to mourn." As we talked, it became clear to her that it wasn't so much that she didn't know how to mourn, but that she didn't want to mourn. She was afraid to face or feel any negative emotions - grief, sorrow, and so on - and thus, despite her claim to happiness and lightheartedness, she was a stunted soul.