I think all of us are very tired of the violence that we receive on a daily basis. We receive this from the Internet, from our phones, whatever it is. And somehow we are being asked to normalize violence. And whenever we get really upset, we’re told, wait a moment. The meek shall inherit the earth.
In other words, the submissive, those that are conquered, that those that are broken will actually eventually take over the earth magically, somehow, magically. But this is not what the phrase means. The phrase that each shall inherit the earth is from, of course, the beatitudes, Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:5. I think we all know this from our basic bible studies. But in its original, it holds a totally different view, much more powerful.
It means essentially strength under control. To have strength and be in control. And what would be an example of this? Perhaps a sumo wrestler would be an example of the meek shall inherit the earth. Because here you have this absolutely huge individual facing an opponent, and he very deftly pushes his opponents away.
Doesn’t try to crush him at all. He just responds accordingly. So if you think to yourself, if I can control, if I leave my sword sheathed, as they said, I could pull it out, but I don’t have to. It’s not a matter of deterrence because this suggests that I’m as strong as you are, and I can take you on at any time. This means that I have a tremendous amount more power than you do, but I choose not to use it.
And I’m going to try to rationally express what’s really going on in my world. I guess, ultimately, it’s a kind of nonviolent resistance, isn’t it? Many years ago, I was in a pub in a bar sitting with my girlfriend, my fiance, the lady who eventually became my wife, and this enormous man got into an altercation with one of the chaps we were sitting with. And my girlfriend very politely said to the man, his nickname was the mountain. Mountain, please, this is unnecessary because he was being rude and vulgar, etcetera.
And he said some very unkind things to my fiance. And in a moment of rage, I went up to the bar where the man was actually seated, and I said to him, please don’t say those things. And he said, what are you gonna do about it? And, of course, there was absolutely nothing that I could do because of his size. But I did say to him, please, I do nothing I can do, but please don’t say those things.
I’m asking you this as a gentleman, one gentleman to another. And lo and behold, the man apologized. I’ve related this story before, but many of us have experienced similar things that we’ve actually talked down people who seemingly were out of control. And this is because the meek shall inherit the earth, ones that are thoughtful and know how to command real power. Because, gosh, as we well know, all the catastrophes that go on in the world, all the violence, all the killing, etcetera, ultimately really does not bring peace.
Little story. During World War two, most of the members of the German secret police, the Gestapo, were not Nazi members. Say what? It’s true. There were 32,000 around 32,000 Gestapo agents, and most of those people were career policemen at the beginning of the war.
And, of course, over time, there were some people who changed their position. Perhaps they saw it as more advantageous to be a card carrying Nazi, etcetera, but most did not. And at the end of the war, those people, whatever their horrible crimes might have been, taken under the auspices of wartime measures, whatever, went back into regular police work. Now, of course, the people that were blatantly criminal were probably punished. Not for sure, but let’s say probably punished.
But many were not because, ultimately, they knew the role of policing. They just followed the rules, basically, rightly or wrongly, and went back at the end of the war. So, really, it’s a tragic example of the meek shall inherit the earth, but power usually is never displayed, not real power. You know yourself when you meet a really rich and powerful person, they do not have to say, look at me. I’m so intelligent.
I’m so rich. I’m so powerful. They say nothing. They stand up and they shake your hand, and you know the power of power, so to speak, at that moment. And they seem to possess, in a weird sense, an inner stillness, don’t they?
They really do. When Jesus was baptized, according to the Christian story, when he was baptized by John the Baptist, he was suddenly filled with the Holy Spirit, and he realized at that moment that he was someone unique. He was filled with the power of God, and he had to get away. He had to go into the desert for forty days and forty nights to reflect on what his mission was. Now whether one is a religious person or not, one has to respect that Jesus was never a warlord.
And yet look today, there are around 3,000,000,000 Christians on this earth. Virtually half the population of the entire earth is Christian today, at least nominally. And this is all from one man who said the meek shall inherit the earth, meaning people like me, People that aren’t aggressive, people that are supposed to be thoughtful, to be live their lives based on faith. And I think if any tragedy has occurred in the Christian message, it is that somehow we’ve learned to justify war, the so called just war phenomenon that was espoused by Saint Augustine in the fifth century. Wrong all the way through third century.
All the way through, it’s wrong. Right? Because we really should learn to turn the other cheek and be powerful human beings. Because if we can really do this, we live peaceful and loving lives because violence takes us nowhere, does it? Nowhere at all.
So you think about this. The next time you’re in a state of anger, just pause for a moment, try to get through it, try to explain, turn the other cheek if at all possible, and remind yourself that power lies within. And you know what they say. You know what they say. Critical thinking is everything, especially when you think that the meek ultimately shall inherit the earth, and critical thinking is great. Truly great. You take care. God bless. Bye bye.