The Beatitudes of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount are an unparalleled testimony to the glory of freedom from attachment. The blessedness they promise comes not just from heroic battles with one’s addictions, but from being unwillingly deprived of their gratification. The poor, the grief-stricken, and the persecuted, for example, have had no choice; they suffer and they need human help, yet, in a way, they may be closer to freedom because they have less to be attached to.
