Zephaniah 2:3

"Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgement; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger."
Zephaniah 2:3


There are three definitions for meek in my huge unabridged dictionary.  Two of them are current meanings, both basically meaning milksop.  The other meaning though, is marked "obs," meaning obsolete, and it says "gentle, kind."  Unfortunately, I think that too many of us would agree that kind and gentle people *are* milksops... that kindness and gentleness is a weakness, that it means you have no backbone, that meekness is, indeed, what the modern definitions say... docile, spiritless, tame... it's as though we have taken everything valuable and good that the word used to mean and turned it into something bad.  I think that is a really scary thing.  Whether it is home or work or church, or anywhere else, we can't afford to keep seeing kindness and gentleness as a weakness.  We seem to think that part of growing up and accepting reality is learning to be hard, and building walls to prevent vulnerability.  We spend a lot of our time trying to protect ourselves from other people and perhaps from our own emotions.  It's easier to ignore someone or react with anger than it is to see things from their perspective and patiently explain your side.  It's easier to rage about small things when the larger ones aren't easy to figure out.  It's easier to reject the truth than it is to edit yourself in order to accept it.  I know, I am babbling again perhaps... but perhaps we should seek meekness today, and think about why God would ask that.  It is a strength, not a weakness, to be able to be kind and gentle.  Especially when you are confused, or frustrated, or frightened.  To be human in the midst of a war. :)  It's a remarkable thing... something to strive for.