"A Rather Subtle Way To Take Over the Earth"- True Celebrities III

Part I: Beyond the Spirit
Part II: Spilt Milk
Part III continues...

As a child, I wanted to be two things when I grew up,  depending on my mood I wanted to be an astronaut one day and a horse-trainer the next. I was only seven years old and on vacation with the family at my grandfather's ranch in Poland when he called me to his side and taught me the tricks I needed to learn to be able to train Lucy, his beautiful Anglo-Arab horse. 
He said, "Temisan darling, the first thing you need to know is that a horse has its own pride too." I smiled and looked up into his eyes. "It has the strength of a lion, but it has no mane."

"So how do I get Lucy to love me?" I wanted to ride her the next morning so badly.

"You have to get her to trust you first."

"And just how am I supposed to do that?"

"You will move her out of her own space. And then you will match any quick moves she tries to make with your own moves, making the strikes before she does. You will continue to do so until she relaxes. If she drops her head down, or lowers her tail, or takes a deep breath, then you will know that she has accepted her fate, and that you are are now her mistress. She will submit to you."

I was the first one to get up in the morning. I did what grandpa said. Lucy made several quick moves, but I was quicker than she was. In the end she quietly submitted to me.

(Fictional story)

* * * * * *

Today's "True Celebrities" are the group of people called "meek:"

"Blessed are the Meek, for they shall inherit the earth." (Matthew 5:5) 

 If you're like me I reckon you must have considered meekness to mean not reacting when someone puts you down. The Matthew 5 translation of "meek" is not so. How do I know? Well, I found a couple of sources that told me about the Greek to English translation of the word "meek" in Matthew 5. The original Greek word is "Praus" and it means "Gentle Strength." (wikiAnswers). It also means "humble" (strongsnumbers).

Gentle Strength:

How can strength be gentle? What do the Greeks mean by that? The ancient Greeks were very particular about horses. They said that a "meek" horse is one which responds well to control and slowly becomes one with its rider ("strength under control"). A "meek" horse is not timid. It is useless to ride a timid horse that hides in its own shadows.  Instead a "meek" horse is a willing, considerate team-player (source). This is what I call "gentle strength." It is not that Lucy was not strong enough to resist, but after a while she knew who the master was and she 'decided' in the fullness of her strength to submit.

Gently Taking Over the Earth:

In the fullness of our strength, we can choose to submit. Submission is not stupidity, it is wisdom. In the quietness of humility we can learn the best secrets. In learning secrets we can obtain the key...the key that leads to the doors of leadership, substance, and wisdom. A quiet submissive apprentice learns more from his master than a noise-making one who constantly chatters about proving his worth. That's the skill of a "meek" horse. If it is submissive and humble it will learn its rider's secrets- the way the rider bends or the way he stays afloat...and it will undeniably be the best horse out there in the race.

This is how the meek will inherit the earth, by being submissive and humble to God first, to those in places of authority, to our peers, and even to those who we think know less than we do.

I think this is a rather subtle way to take over the whole earth.
But it is the best way.
What do you think? 

Photo 1 by Eduardo (flickr)
Photo 2 by manganite (flickr)


NakedSha said...

oh wow...this is so good...

i like how you're touching the beatitudes...

thank you!

Mwajim Al said...

It is always reassuring to know that submission, humility and gentleness are ways to advance God's kingdom on earth. The world would have us think otherwise, because these are definitely not traits society encourages us to enforce. I love this perspective!

Jennifer A. said...

@NakedSha...I'm actually learning a lot by doing this (e.g. the Greek meanings and their translations in the English bible).

@Mwajim...it's so true that the world would have it the opposite way. Walking with God will make us understand that many concepts are the reverse of the world's ideologies. For instance the direction to climb a ladder is UP in the world's eyes, but in God's eyes the way to climb a ladder is to go down (humility). Thanks Mwajim :)

Giagerry said...

love it!
well broken down hunny--now it does make alot of sense, cuz i wont lie i never understood that part!
"submission doesnt mean stupidity"

Jennifer A. said...

@Gee...yes o, we can't lie that we don't know now. Lol. So did we go to the same high-school for real?

DayDreamer said...

Yay part three! Keep 'em coming girl! Seriously though, Christ is the best example of this beatitude. He went to the cross meekly, and did not consider the fact He is God. He could have called down 12 legions of angels to wipe out all the inhabitants of the earth. But He chose not to. Thank you Jesus!

Pea said...

Lovely one, Jaycee. I like, and I am learning. It's amazing how God speaks at the same time. Thank you. I like that you also highlight the meanings in Greek and so on. Meekness is strength. Blessings

Fabulo-la said...

This is a very interesting way to explain it.
The meek shall take over the earth..

Jennifer A. said...

@Remi...yup, meekness is "strength under control."

@Homie...funny thing is while writing this I found a scripture that indicated Jesus was meek: Matthew 11:28-29, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." The gentle and lowly in heart refers to His meekness.

@Pea...I'm telling you, it's amazing. Lol.

@Fabulo-la...kinda interessante, right? Now about that "hmmmm," would love for you to finish your thoughts on this later...LOL. Thanksssss...:)

Amira said...

OMG....!What you've done with your thots,not sure I can fully explain but........
I'm so touched n funny I think am @ the place where God wants me to learn,really study humility. Please if you have more material or thots post to my inbox please.
Keep 'em coming!

Jennifer A. said...

@Amira...I'm equally glad you've been able to read this. To search for more topics you may like please don't hesitate to either check "The blog in series" on the homepage TABS, or the LABELS/TAG CLOUDS at the bottom of the sidebar. Most times, meetings like this are not coincidences :)

Unknown said...

Jay, I love this. Submission in the fullness of one's strength is meekness. What came to my mind reading that is just like horses, we humans too have our pride. It, in fact, takes us more time before we submit. That's why many times, we'd have gone our ways and failed before returning back to our master. We'd have tried and done all the display the fullness of our strength before we now become humble before God.

However, I can only imagine if all the time, at every phase of our lives, we are always 'meek' - submitting the fullness of our strength, intelligence, know-how, power, abilities... the fullness of them all. Our lives will sure have less struggles than we do right now. God will help us.

Thanks once again, Jay.


Jennifer A. said...

@LDP...I guess after being strong-headed too many times, we would know better! Lol. Thanks for that input.

Favorsheart said...


That sums it up for me. Thanks a lot Jaycee...this is blessing me so much.

"..in quietness and in [trusting] confidence shall be your strength.."(Isa 30:15b-Amp).

Jennifer A. said...

@Favor's heart...wowwww...thank you so much for providing that verse. It's like a seal to the post :)

Formerly stealth reader said...

i used to think meek meant, suffer the insults, do not respond,just bear everything.
i love this ...gentle strength.

Jennifer A. said...

@Former Stealth Reader...lol, same as myself. In fact, we're not the only ones. It's funny how we realize the true meanings to stuff after encountering them so many times already :)

jhazmyn said...

Jaycee, I'm so loving the perspective ur bringing to the beatitudes...gives me a lot to meditate on

Jennifer A. said...

@Jhazmyn...thank God. It's really helping me out too. Especially learning "romantic" Greek words...lol.

Kafo said...

i love the description of gentle strength and the way it takes over the world so beautiful

i think this is my fave. one in the series