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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