"Blessed are the meek"

I watch my wife with her dog Spot. I see Spot respond to her for her good pleasure. While he selfishly wants to go places and do things that he somehow knows he shouldn't, he refrains from his own natural desires and sits patiently watching Gail until he perceives she approves. He learns her wishes for him because he now belongs to her. He discerns when to sleep in the chair in the bedroom and when he can get in the bed. He waits til she is ready for him to sit in her lap before he jumps up. When Gail yanks on Spot's lease with disapproval of the direction he is going, he cowers in awe and respect for her intentions for him.

You may be asking about now, what does this have to do with the title of this blog. It seems Jesus had the image of a domesticated pet when He said, "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth." In the day of Jesus, the Greek word translated into "meek" was normally used to refer to a pet that was totally committed to its master. A domesticated animal that had every emotion and action in submission to the one in authority because of its desire to totally please that one.

Because Spot has proven to Gail that his actions are fully formed by his desire to please her, Gail gives Spot full advantage of our house. He is not penned up while she is gone. There are no places he cannot enjoy. In a sense he has "inherited" our home. This is the consequence of being "meek" and is what Jesus is pointing us to in this Beatitude. As we submit every thought, emotion, and action to the will of our master because we so fully desire the pleasure of His will, we inherit the dwelling place of our being, free to use and partake as we enjoy its provisions and privileges.

Interestingly, the Beatitudes begin each aspect of our life in Christ with the phrase " blessed are". Unfortunately this is often translated "happy are." However, the original word used here is makarios and means "the joy of being". The root word for happiness is hap. Happiness is our sense of favorable well being because or happenstances meet our approval. Blessedness on the other hand is a favorable well being independent of our circumstances. A well being of our soul that comes from inside, from the life of Christ in us. So this Beatitude is describing the nature of a Christian as being similar to Spot's. His well being is established by his desire to be fully aligned with Gail's will. His inner disposition provides his joy, the correlate to that is his full run of his domain, our house.

Such it is with those who trust Jesus for their well being, Our disposition is not one of fear or guilt or obligation, but of thanksgiving and peaceful assurance, which is the source of our joy. In concert with this is our freedom to fully enjoy and participate in the offerings of our domain, the earth in which we live.

Such are the musings of an old man whose wife has a pet dog named Spot .....