Jun 04, 2017

 

Follower of Jesus (21)

Blessed are the meek,

For they will inherit the earth. (1)

                     Matthew 5:5

We are going back to continue to look more deeply at the Beatitudes.

       When someone is described as ‘meek’, our goal and success oriented ego-sourced selves automatically think about a withdrawn person who shies away from any confrontational approach on anything. This kind of person seems quiet and is easily intimidated, etc.; the antithesis of what we consider a success in our competitive society, certainly not a person to follow.

Yet Jesus was called both “meek and humble”. Both of these terms had very different meanings when discussed in the times of Jesus. “Meek” and “humble” had very similar meanings: a meek and humble person was true to themselves, never speaking in self-aggrandizing modes. When Jesus spoke of God, when he spoke of himself, it was always in the truth of his life. Truly he was meek and humble, calling all to “come and see.” (John 1:39).

Above all, he was gentle and accepting of those in much pain. He accepted those whose lives were held in disdain by the elite, and even went so far as to chastise the elite by their self-congratulations, that they “were not like other men”(Luke 18:11).

Those of us who have lived a life where we recognize our shadow self, that part of us we hide and never want anyone else to see, tend to see ourselves as ‘sinners’, that is, not living the life that we say and pretend we are to the level that we believe we should be. And this is good, for only in the self-recognition of our shadow side can we move to accept the God who has accepted and loved us before we even see our shadow. Even though we deride another who ‘sins’ have been publically revealed, usually we cower a bit internally, afraid that our ‘sins’, no matter what they are, would be revealed to show the hypocrite we believe we truly are.

But we are not a hypocrite, but a human, like all other humans, with a shadow side that too often pushes us in ways we wish we could resist. The meek person is a person who is comfortable in their own skin, warts and all. Our society does not condone the open person, indeed they deride them and call them weak and dirty – they very type of person that Jesus felt comfortable with to sit at the table and eat and talk.

Jesus was the meek and humble servant whose life echoed God in our world. God does not make a big deal out of being God. if God felt insecure and in need of instant gratification, God could certainly announce itself in any manner of splashy sounds and cymbals. Instead, God remains hidden, especially from the wise and knowledgeable. Never does God proclaim itself, but remains hidden and quiet, awaiting to be discovered by those who become meek and humble themselves. Only when we begin to see our shadow side, that side we never want to talk about, do we begin to see the truth of ourselves and the one that God loves. God sees us only in our truth. God ignores the false self we project to the world, and loves the hesitant, flawed, and imperfect being that is who we truly are. That being is the truth of God’s creation, and God is delighted to love that being into truth. That is our purpose in this episode, to uncover that kingdom that lives within us and let it shine as a beacon of hope to the universe.

Only the meek recognize God, and God is in and of everything that we see and touch in our life. Only when we are able to pore ourselves out in love for our world do we begin to understand that we are Love itself, that face of God that can heal our troubled world. Only the weak, that is, one who sees themselves as they truly are, both the strengths and weaknesses, see God in all, and therefore inherit the earth. For it is the weak that is strong, able to meld themselves with the God that beckons them in joy.

Meditation

My Font of Joy, only when I see my weakness to I begin to see my strength. Only when I let myself surrender to You and dwell in your love do I begin to taste the Love that creates all that I know. I am grateful for the pain of my life, for in the pain I have found the greatest Joy that is the font of life. I am amazed that You never gave up on me, even though I failed time and time again to be what I could be. Your constant Love gave me hope and joy at the most unexpected moments of life, and I truly believe that I have inherited the earth, for Your Love fills me and blesses me at all times.

 

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