What is a Meek?

It's the collective noun for a number of milds.

Milds are very shy, rarely seen in any great number due to their tendency of not putting themselves forward ... hence a meek is indeed a rare sight.

Shyness has led to certain unfortunate social traits ... milds do not like entrances and exits, the Womens' Institute, taxis, strong cheeses, queues, bright lights, sex toys, exclamation marks, Hell's Angels, medical procedures, pigeons, loud noises, squirrels ... and they particularly dislike a fuss and anything in CAPITAL LETTERS.

Milds therefore tend towards the solitary existence, but once you get to know them, the relationship is always deeply rewarding.

When they do venture out however, their courage can founder at the first hurdle.

"After you," is the motto of the mild, but when two milds meet, the resultant "After you," "No, after you," "No, I insist, after you,", "My dear fellow, I will not hear of it, after you... " can go on ad infinitum ... indeed ad nauseam. Tragically, each year many milds die when, at the height of such an impasse, both assent to the other and try to act simultaneously — easily flustered at the failure of such out-of-character activity, the result is often inevitable.

In 1987 for example, three milds had to be rescued after being trapped for three days in a revolving door, and two never recovered from the trauma of the experience.

Thus the meek shall inherit the earth, because the milds will be the last ones left, holding the door, after everyone else has gone.

Thomas
 
China Cat Sunflower said:
The meeks are going to inherit the earth. What does it mean to be meek?

Chris
Click to expand...
Those who are teachable , and it is very close to
humility, lowliness of mind, and gentleness.
Meek persons are teachable—Jehovah “will teach the meek ones his way” (Ps 25:9)—and they are willing to endure discipline from the hand of God,

Jesus demonstrated meekness by enduring all manner of personal injury without a word of complaint, even allowing himself to be led to the slaughter as a lamb without opening his mouth in protest. (Php 2:5-8; Heb 12:2; Ac 8:32-35; Isa 53:7)
 
Great post Thomas :D

I think this is yet another example of a political insertion. It says do not complain about your leaders and you will be rewarded in the everafter. That is as transparent a bit of propaganda as I ever saw in the bible and it has its parallel in Islam too. Another political device in a book(s) full of em.

Tao
 
Thomas said:
Milds therefore tend towards the solitary existence, but once you get to know them, the relationship is always deeply rewarding.
Click to expand...

I must be mild.:D

Thomas said:
"After you," is the motto of the mild, but when two milds meet, the resultant "After you," "No, after you," "No, I insist, after you,", "My dear fellow, I will not hear of it, after you... " can go on ad infinitum ... indeed ad nauseam. Tragically, each year many milds die when, at the height of such an impasse, both assent to the other and try to act simultaneously — easily flustered at the failure of such out-of-character activity, the result is often inevitable.

In 1987 for example, three milds had to be rescued after being trapped for three days in a revolving door, and two never recovered from the trauma of the experience.
Click to expand...

oh, ok, maybe I'm not that mild. I wouldn't have gone that far. I would have said, sorry I haven't got time for this game. Game over. I would have been off.

I'm mild in being mild. I'm not an extremist mild.:)
 
Saltmeister said:
I'm mild in being mild. I'm not an extremist mild.:)
Click to expand...

Amen to that! If there's one thing that makes my blood boil, its mild fundamentalism! :mad:

(or is it fundamental mildism ... I telephoned The Mild Exchange ... they said 'whatever you like, really' ... we then got into one of those 'you put the phone down first' cycles ... I hate hanging up first, don't you? Seems so rude ... we're still on the line, actually ... )

Thomas
 
Thomas said:
Amen to that! If there's one thing that makes my blood boil, its mild fundamentalism! :mad:

(or is it fundamental mildism ... I telephoned The Mild Exchange ... they said 'whatever you like, really' ... we then got into one of those 'you put the phone down first' cycles ... I hate hanging up first, don't you? Seems so rude ... we're still on the line, actually ... )

Thomas
Click to expand...

Yeah I used to do that a lot. I still do that now from time to time. I actually wait (or waited), with my ear still glued to the earpiece (or whatever it's called), just to see when they're going to hang up. Sometimes I'm wondering if the other side is doing the same, and that if I don't hang up . . . it means I'm somehow lonely and crazy for more conversation. Because I'm afraid they'll think I'm stalking them . . . I get suspicious and hang up.:D

Most of them time it's because I'm not sure if we're supposed to hang up. We said the matter was settled . . . you checked my bank details . . . we said ok that was fixed . . . I said thank you for your time . . . are we still meant to be talking? Who has the last word here? Are you waiting for me to hang up? Who's waiting for whom?

Actually I was wondering . . . did you actually discuss the fact that you were in a you-put-the-phone-down-first cycle after you both found you were awaiting for the other person, and then after you discussed that, got into another you-put-the-phone-down-first cycle?:D
 
Tao_Equus said:
I think this is yet another example of a political insertion. It says do not complain about your leaders and you will be rewarded in the everafter. That is as transparent a bit of propaganda as I ever saw in the bible and it has its parallel in Islam too. Another political device in a book(s) full of em.
Click to expand...

Do not complain about our leaders? What do you mean by that?

There are two ways of seeing that.

View 1:
I could decide not to complain about my leaders because I know they don't speak the truth. I choose not to complain because I can't do anything about it, and most importantly, I know the truth myself and don't need to pay attention to them. While being silent may mean conceding, being silent may also be a way of deceiving them. They think they've got me under control, but in truth they don't. They think they're so good, so maybe I should just let them believe that.

View 2:
The other way of seeing it is if I actually believe what they say . . . and therefore there is nothing about which to complain.

OR (same/similar/different aspect of same view)

I can't really complain. I know they've got a lot of power, I don't like that, but maybe, just maybe, they're right for once.:D

I'm inclined to think Jesus meant View 1 . . . or do you reckon, cynically, that Jesus actually meant View 2?:eek:
 
Tao_Equus said:
Great post Thomas :D

I think this is yet another example of a political insertion. It says do not complain about your leaders and you will be rewarded in the everafter. That is as transparent a bit of propaganda as I ever saw in the bible and it has its parallel in Islam too. Another political device in a book(s) full of em.

Tao
Click to expand...
There is nothing more dangerous, nor more upsetting, than a "humble man", brought to frustration. Then he becomes a dynamo, in order to get back to that humbleness.

Blessed is he who never has to resolve to other than being humble, he shall inheret the Kingdom. I understand this beatitude well...
 
Funny stuff Thomas!

I always think of the "meek" as just the regular common clay kind of people. Hard working, honest, lacking in political power. Just regular people trying their best, like dust bowl farmers in those black and white photos.

Chris
 

Wouldn’t that severely limit the benefactors?

I thought it was someone who forfeited their own self importance and admitted that they need the Lord.
 
Have you ever heard the story of St. Francis of Assisi preaching to the birds? There are some famous iconographs which depict it. The birds are of a common, unremarkable variety, like sparrows or grackles, and they represent the common people with their drab clothing and unrefined voices. The meek.

Chris
 
China Cat Sunflower said:
Have you ever heard the story of St. Francis of Assisi preaching to the birds? There are some famous iconographs which depict it. The birds are of a common, unremarkable variety, like sparrows or grackles, and they represent the common people with their drab clothing and unrefined voices. The meek.

Chris
Click to expand...

Have you ever listened to the song of a sparrow? It is a learned song, passed down from generation to generation. They are not born with song, but have to listen to their parents and others in order to create their own. It is a wonderful song...nothing common about it.
 
Saltmeister said:
Do not complain about our leaders? What do you mean by that?

There are two ways of seeing that.

View 1:
I could decide not to complain about my leaders because I know they don't speak the truth. I choose not to complain because I can't do anything about it, and most importantly, I know the truth myself and don't need to pay attention to them. While being silent may mean conceding, being silent may also be a way of deceiving them. They think they've got me under control, but in truth they don't. They think they're so good, so maybe I should just let them believe that.

View 2:
The other way of seeing it is if I actually believe what they say . . . and therefore there is nothing about which to complain.

OR (same/similar/different aspect of same view)

I can't really complain. I know they've got a lot of power, I don't like that, but maybe, just maybe, they're right for once.:D

I'm inclined to think Jesus meant View 1 . . . or do you reckon, cynically, that Jesus actually meant View 2?:eek:
Click to expand...

First off I do not believe Jesus actually said it. As I have stated many times on CR I believe the Bible(s) and the Q'uran to be a fusion of old social morals and political devices. This definitely falls into the latter.

In your example 1 though you state you may remain quiet but disapproving the end result is no different than being of the mind of example 2. Christ as portrayed was anything but meek. He was supposedly willing to die for his right to challenge the corrupt authority of the Jewish/Roman status quo. So is Jesus to be denied the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth for this?

Meekness is one of four things. 1:It is a state imposed on one by circumstance not allowing any other option. 2: It is being too dumb or uneducated to want to improve the world around you. 3:It is being aware but too selfish to do your bit. 4:It is being aware but too cowardly to make the challenge.

Of course some of those options intermingle in the individual but the purpose of the line in the Bible and its counterpart in the Q'uran is always the same. It is that there is grave and eternal risk from challenging the status quo. It is as important psychologically for what it does not say as what it does. The line is both carrot and stick because you are promised salvation for being a quiet docile member of the flock, (bahHhHhH). The unsaid reward of not being meek is silent. Psychologically that is no accident.

You have to remember that such things were not written for a contemporary audience of cyber-debaters but for the uneducated serfs and townsfolk of history. As I understand it Jesus only ever said "love thy neighbour", (which I tried but she had a restraining order served on me), or "do unto others as you would have done unto you". The rest is commentary, fables, conjecture added in the centuries following. The church was not, indeed is not, an institution of charity and salvation as it would like itself painted. It was/is a power base that ruled with ruthless authority murdering millions to protect its wealth and power down the centuries. Why would you find it difficult to believe that they tampered with the good book somewhere down the line?

Anyhow enough rant. I state again tho just in case anyone is in any doubt :p one of its primary purposes is the Church/State telling you its ok to be a yellow bellied coward. Infact you are assured eternal salvation if you are!!

Tao
 
And the way Jesus saw it.
I do not disagree with you about the likelihood that many of the things attributed to Jesus were not actually spoken by him (Yogi Berra is a sports figure in America famous for mis-speaking, lines like "Nobody ever goes there anymore-- it's too crowded" and "90% of baseball is half mental", but once he denied one of the lines attributed to him, saying "You know, I never even said half those things I said"). But in this case I think it is much easier to assume that what he meant was fully consistent with what he was.
 
1.humble in spirit or manner; suggesting retiring mildness or even cowed submissiveness; "meek and self-effacing"
2.very docile; "tame obedience"; "meek as a mouse"- Langston Hughes

How can Jesus be said to have been meek? He declared himself the son of God. (My own take on that is he did so no more than he would have claimed anyone to be a child of God). He tried to start a revolution in the synagogue. He chose martyrdom over compliance. These things are not indicative of a meek personality but of an extrovert reactionary. I think you confuse his purportedly pacifist ideology for something it was not. Too many technicolor holywood epics have given people this impression. I believe the almost schizophrenic angst of someone outraged by injustice portrayed in Scorseses' "Last Temptation of Christ" does far more justice to the story. In that you find nothing meek.

Tao
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top