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The importance of Meekness

The Bulletin Board is for gratitude for Christian Science and the Church, as well as timely excerpts from the Bible, the works of Mrs. Eddy, and the early workers that help and encourage. We are very grateful for all posts that conform to these guidelines, but will edit or remove anything that the Practitioners feel is not in complete accord with pure Christian Science or in any way disrespectful of it.

We also ask that you keep your postings as concise as possible. If you quote the Bible, please use The King James Version, as this is what Mrs. Eddy used. Thank you!


Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
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  • #4038
    Espaid
    Participant

    I never liked the word meek. It always conveyed to me a sense of being mushy, timid, complacent – letting someone walk all over you. And that would be true if understood humanly.

    But understanding the word in its spiritual sense turns it around into something to strive to express daily.

    From the lesson:
    Psalm 25: 9
    “The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.”

    Barnes’ Notes on the Bible:
    “The meek will he guide – The humble, the teachable, the prayerful, the gentle of spirit – those who are willing to learn. A proud person who supposes that he already knows enough cannot be taught; a haughty person who has no respect for others, cannot learn of them; a person who is willing to believe nothing cannot be instructed. The first requisite, therefore, in the work of religion, as in respect to all kinds of knowledge, is a meek and docile spirit.”

    From A.W. Tozer (a Christian pastor and author, 1897-1963)
    “The meek man cares not at all who is greater than he, for he has long ago decided that the esteem of the world is not worth the effort … The meek man is not a human mouse afflicted with a sense of his own inferiority. Rather, he may be in his moral life as bold as a lion and as strong as Samson; but he has stopped being fooled about himself…. In himself, nothing; in God, everything. That is his motto.”

    #4039
    MaryBeth
    Participant

    That is beautiful! Thank you….another definition that has helped me get over this mushy sense of the word “meek” is “submissive to the will of God”! It is always so helpful to dig deeper into the real meaning of words, to look up definitions, in order to deepen our understanding. A quick skimming over never works.

    #4059
    Betty S
    Participant

    Thank for these two posts on meekness. They are very helpful. Most definitely not “mushy”.

    #4066
    Catherine
    Participant

    I don’t know if this is a valid interpretation, but it is something to think about from Dictionary of Quotations by Bergen Evans 1978
    Now the Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth (Numbers 12:3)
    Commentary:
    A difficult passage, since the statement –presumably written by Moses himself–doesn’t fit the facts within any known meaning of the word meek. Moses killed the Egyptian taskmaster, he destroyed Pharaoh’s host, he smashed the tablets of the Ten Commandments, he literally forced the golden calf down the throats of its worshippers, he instigated the slaying of 3,000 Israelites as a disciplinary measure, and he smote the rock in Horeb–all of which is hard to reconcile with meekness.
    In 1941, speaking before the annual meeting of the Oriental Society, Professor O> R> Sellers, Professor of Old Testament at the Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Chicago, offered a solution. He pointed out that meek here is a mistranslation of a Hebrew word that would be better rendered as vexed, bad-tempered, irritable. The New Yorker thought that this might throw light on another puzzling passage: The meek…shall inherit the earth.
    I believe Moses stuttered, but does that mean he is meek?

    #4072
    Florence
    Participant

    “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”—Matthew 11:28-30. From Our master whose mission on earth none can compare and whose example is above all.( Emphasis added).

    To be meek is this quality of heart and mind that made Him the greatest man because there was nothing of himself but all of what God wanted Him to be and do. He fit the “mold” for God’s purpose through Him.
    This is what Moses also did after he gained total confidence in God’s power and assurance to be with him. In total obedience to God and yielding of self for God’s purpose he reflected God’s power and was able to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt.

    This quality has little to do with whether one can speak or not, nor does it have anything to do with any form of physical “defect.” It is the state of thought or heart that is empty enough (humble) of self, for God to shine through. There is no self-depreciation here, but rather the buoyancy of inner confidence, love and moral courage all from our Father –Mother God!

    #4079
    Michael Pupko
    Participant

    There were ‘two’ Moses. First one was the material (an illusion of God’s real man) and the second was the spiritual reflection of God. As the spiritual reflection of God Moses was absolutely meek; completely obedient and thus made incredible demonstrations of God’s power, the parting of the Red Sea a great enough example. Moses didn’t have the benefit of the whole Bible and Christ Jesus’ example to follow or try to emulate.

    The ‘other’ Moses does get lost so I appreciate a reminder of what were harsh deeds. It reminds me of Saul/Paul. What made him so great was his absolute repentance of the wrongs he had committed even when he studied the Bible (parts that were known to that point) and thought (as a material trait) he was doing right. Then he meekly followed the Christ with as much or more determination and zeal, sparing no hardship on himself. Moses was the same.

    As a former dairy farmer I directed some of the same ‘persecution’ against animals that Moses and Paul exhibited against people. Cows were my pets, livelihood and, victims. What I did was accepted by society and the farming community and never weighed on my conscience as a farmer because I was above the average (probably very close to the top) in the way I treated the animals. For me, a driving force in trying to be the best Christian Scientist ever (now) is to ‘make up’ for how I treated animals and people in a very un-Godly way in the past from a complete ignorance of our pure and perfect Mother-Father God! I still am not equal to Christ in my treatment of either animal or people but am SO grateful to have all that Plainfield has to offer such as these forum posts to help me learn the right way:)

    Thanks to all!!

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