Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Yesterday morning I woke up and read the Beatitudes. The term comes from the Latin word Beatus, which sort of translates to Blessed. Fortunate, blissful, happy. Here, Jesus presented to us an ideal for Christianity that has more to do with compassion and and love. These are the values that Christ cares about out.
Blessed are the meek.
This one stood out to me.
They shall inherit the earth.
It's easy to read the Bible and take some of it in literally, and some as some sort of figure of speech that really means something else. I'm really no expert on these ancient times, their ways of speaking, the translations, the culture. Often times I can get left in confusion, so I take a little in at a time.
But here I find myself reading:
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
Jesus probably doesn't clump these things together with some of them having just a spiritual meaning, and some just having a literal meaning. It's got to be one or the other. Most all of these beatitudes can be said literally. We shall be called sons of God, and we will be in the Kingdom of Heaven, we'll receive mercy. All these things I learned growing up in Sunday school.
But what about inheriting the earth? That one is a little different. If the rest are to be heard literally, then this one should too. How do we take literal inheriting the Earth? What does that mean? Is it going to matter one day when the Christ returns to us to take us home. Home, I have often hoped, is much like this earth we live on, this beautiful place He made. Maybe it is this earth, restored to what it was meant to be.
Will the meek inherit the earth in the days to come before Christ returns to us? Will the meek inherit the earth after Christ returns to us? Will heaven be here on earth? I understand that we should be stewards of the earth and take care our planet here, but how does inheriting the earth compare to the rest of these beatitudes? If we follow these beatitudes we can see God, have the Kingdom of Heaven, receive mercy, be satisfied with our hunger towards righteousness. These are very literal, and spiritual-based things. Inheriting the earth is a much more tangible thing than the rest, and if it were meant to be spiritual as well, how does that work? How do we spiritually inherit the earth?
Now let's talk about what meek means. From the Greek word praus, it was used to refer to domesticated animals. Not wild animals. Powerful domesticated animals like oxen, who serve great purpose. Meek, we could say, means strong and in control. Not weak or passive. I read somewhere that "the meek see God, and they see God in everything." Truly. He is in the world around us and the people around us just as an artist is in all of his artwork. So we can be comforted that, although the wicked occupy this world for a time, God is in all things around us. God is in beauty and truth.
To become meek, we must take a sense of belonging of the earth, but only through God, as all things are His. We must be humbled by his presence in these things. When I think of meek, now, I think of a mountain man: living off the earth, taking care of what is around him, respecting the power of nature, as well as the beauty delicacy of it all. Living with it, not living on it, or despite of it.
I want to be meek. I want to inherit the earth. I want to be an advocate for this creation we live in.
Still, when I take it apart I understand it more. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. But I still have questions that go along with this beatitude. I don't need answers always. The desire is to be meek. God will take care of the rest.
"...Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body and what you will put on. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds in the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?... Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."
