Spiritual Solutions

Let’s take a searching look at the word gentleness. It is defined as “mild, kindly, amiable; not severe or violent.” Its synonyms are “courteous, polite, tender, compassionate, considerate, tolerant, sweet, meek, tranquil, smooth, and calm.” In former times, the terms “gentleman” and “gentlewoman” characterized men and women of good birth and breeding, spiritually put together, balanced, harmonious, and carried the implication of a kind of noblesse oblige that goes along with breeding and culture.

Man is always at his worst when he resorts to violence, force, hostility, anger and war. He is always at his best when he expresses love, meekness, humility, and gentleness. The traditional concept of noblesse oblige of the French nobility was that along with privilege went obligation to create and maintain the sort of atmosphere and conditions and actions that were in everyone’s best interests.

The Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you,” has a cosmic dimension. As I express in the world, the world will surely express to me; there is a comeback, the law of causation. We have to breathe the pollution of the air we create. Gentleness, humility, kindness and consideration are not at all signs of weakness. Such erroneous thought has obscured one of the great potentials of men and women.

Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.” At first glance this appears to be mistaken, for it seems to us that it is the strong rather than the meek that inherit the earth and possess it. The Greek word “praeis” which we translate as “meek” really means tame, in the sense of being the opposite of wild or unrestrained; it refers to a harnessing and mobilizing of one’s powers. It indicates that the outer manner will be reserved and controlled, poised and peaceful. But it is not a weakness but rather strength, because all the inner powers are harnessed and not dissipated in bluster and aggression and show.

In the French translation of this particular beatitude, we gain a new insight, “Blessed are the debonair,” the last word meaning of “good manner;” in other words, pleasant, courteous, gracious, or charming and carefree. A contemporary idiomatic rendering might be: “Blessed are the cool.” This implies one who is flexible, adaptive, big enough that he or she does not need to belittle.

The “big” person stands on principle; thus, he does not have to dispute others and be contentious. When you are sure of the principle, you can with ease give in for the sake of peace and harmony. The gentle person knows when to step back, when to yield, when to give way; when to go on might simply indicate willfulness. He does not borrow trouble by always insisting on his “rights” or fighting for his “freedom.” He knows that the only truly free person is the one who keeps his heart free from hatred and conflict. This is why the meek inherit the earth, because the consciousness of meekness and gentleness leads to a free experience in the world while the aggressor is chained by his own aggressive thoughts.

There is a story of a taxicab company whose slogan is “Wave them through and watch them smile.” This was stamped in large, bright letters on every driver’s clipboard, reminding him to be “debonair, cool, and good-humored.” In everyone’s daily living there occur traffic jams in human relations, in one’s own thinking; and someone or something has to give for progress to be made. What a tremendous sense of power one may begin to feel when he has set off a chain reaction of cooperation and courtesy. A smile is contagious; you cannot watch it and then frown back at it. There is something about it reflected in your own lips as they curve upward in response. We should teach ourselves to smile more; it relieves tension and gives time for the deep breath of a considered act.

We tend to think of the dynamic person as one who is aggressive, domineering, flamboyant, thundering through life. The really dynamic person is not noisy; he is meek in the sense of being tame. His powers are in control. He can speak with authority, take decisive action, and act with power and conviction, without beating the drum. Instead of thundering, he employs the lightning of ideas. Instead of thrashing about in the darkness, he switches on a light.

This is the power of gentleness, and I think we all need to give more thought to becoming gentle creatures, gentle persons, and gentle at heart; becoming “debonair,” becoming “cool.”

Remember, God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham
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Rev. Alan Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-eight years, invites you to enjoy more articles and/or subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at www.spiritualsolutionsblog.com

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Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matt. 5:5) At first glance, this would appear to be a mistake, for it seems to us that it is the strong that inherit the earth and possess all the blessings of it.

In fact, I was reading an article recently by a motivational author and speaker who claimed that we should throw out the idea of the meek inheriting the earth, totally belittling its validity. The author said that what we need to do was the opposite of being meek, which was to stand tall and possess the earth.

Well, like many of us, the author had a misunderstanding of the meaning of the word “meek.” The Greek word “praeis” which we translate as “meek” really means tame, in the sense of being opposite of wild or unrestrained; it refers to a harnessing and mobilizing of one’s powers. It is not a weakness but rather a strength, because all the inner powers are harnessed, not dissipated in bluster and aggression and show.

The French translation of this beatitude is “Blessed are the debonair,” meaning of “good manner,” or in other words, pleasant, courteous, and gracious, or charming and carefree. Today we might say, “Blessed are the cool,” implying one who is flexible, adaptive, big enough that he or she does not need to belittle.

Man is always at his best when he expresses love, meekness, humiity, and gentleness. The gentle person knows when to step back, when to yield, when to give way; when to go on might simply indicate willfulness. The meek inherit the earth because the consciousness of meekness and gentleness leads to a free experience in the world while the aggressor is chained by his own aggressive thoughts.

We tend to think of the dynamic person as the one who is aggressive, domineering, flamboyant, thundering through life. The really dynamic person is not noisy; he or she is meek in the sense of being tame. His powers are in control. He can speak with authority, take decisive action, act with power and conviction, without beating the drum. Instead of thundering, he employs the lightning of ideas. Instead of thrashing about in the darkness, he switches on a light.

I think it would behoove us all to give more thought to becoming gentle creatures, gentle persons, and gentle at heart; becoming “debonair,” becoming “cool.” Yes, “Blessed are the cool”

God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

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Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-seven years, invites you to subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at Spiritual Solutions. Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend.

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at Rich Words.

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“Summer Heat Calls for Inner Cool!” I could see the headline now, as I worked with my frustration in trying to get someone to come out and fix our air-conditioning. It was the middle of summer and not only was the air inside the house hot, I was pretty hot too.

The promise was that someone would come out and fix it between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m., Monday. No one showed up. They said they’d be there Tuesday, between the same times. It was after 4 p.m. before anyone showed up.

Then, after assurances from customer service that we had a manufacturer’s warranty on the A/C unit, the service man tells me the condenser unit needs replacing and there’s no warranty on that.

It wasn’t just air-conditioning I needed by this time, it was inner conditioning! Ever been there? I’m sure you have. Of course, it all got resolved eventually. We got several quotes and now have a brand new condenser unit with a 10-year warranty.

A nice ending touch was that, a couple of days later, we received a lovely flower arrangement by way of the sales person. It sat there sweetly in the middle of our coffee table, quietly reminding me of the need for inner conditioning if you want to be truly cool.

There’s a great little story that points up the same message:

Once upon a time there was a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried.

The king looked at all the pictures. But there were only two he really liked, and he had to choose between them.

One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for the peaceful towering mountains all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this painting thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.

The other picture had mountains too. But these mountains were ragged and bare. Above was an angry sky, from which rain fell and in which lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all.

But when the king looked closely, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest – in perfect peace.

The king chose the second painting as the prize-winning picture of peace. Do you know why?

“Because,” explained the king, “peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace.”

Would you like to be truly cool and maintain a deep sense of inner peace?

Well, maybe I can help you with some inner conditioning.

Have you ever thought of using a meditation based on the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi? You may recall that the opening line of that famous prayer is, “Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.”

The clue to finding peace is in those last two words: “thy peace.”

You can learn how to be a calm center of peace for yourself and an instrument of God’s peace for others. Here’s how:

First take some time, maybe each day for a week, to memorize the Prayer of St. Francis.

Then, having memorized the prayer, when you next settle into a time of quiet meditation, use one line of the prayer at a time and say it very slowly to yourself letting it sink into your consciousness at a deep level:

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace;

Where there is hatred, let me sow love,

Where there is injury, pardon,

Where there is doubt, faith,

Where there is despair, hope,

Where there is darkness, light,

Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much

Seek to be consoled, as to console;

To be understood, as to understand;

To be loved, as to love;

For it is in giving that we receive,

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

And it is in dying [to self] that we are born to eternal life.

Let this be your form of meditation each day for as long as need be, and until you are feeling a deeper sense of peace within yourself. Then keep it in mind and use it whenever you need it any time in the future.

“If you are at peace,” said Thomas Merton, “then there is at least some peace in the world. Then share your peace with everyone, and everyone will be at peace.”

Yours, in Love and Peace,

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

P.S. If you would like to be on Rev. Alan’s personal mailing list to receive his inspirational newsletter, Spiritual Solutions, you can sign up at http://spiritualsolutionsblog.com/

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