Meekness is a beautiful virtue. It is a characteristic that maintains a healthy rhythm to the soul. It allows us to run at a steady pace. It keeps us undisturbed by the crowds and fixated on the finish line before us. Meekness silences the gossip that is around you, and keeps your mind at ease when competitors are ahead. Meekness helps you run the race you practiced to run.
Imagine with me for a moment the start of a competition among runners.
It requires great self control to direct the emotions, built up in the frenzy of a competition, towards feeding the adrenaline needed to gain an advantage in a race. The power and intensity of emotion at the start point of a race can either be your friend or be an annoying poking inside the walls of your head. For some reason, the run we practice before the competition is rarely simulated when the gun fires at the start of the race. We often permit the environment of the competition to determine how we run, we allow it to derail and alter the race we practiced to run. The chanting crowds and the cocky stares of certain competitors beside us distract us from the strategy we practiced many times before.
Our original plan was to start the race off slow, painting a false illusion of victory to our competitors we restrain our speed in order to allow their pride to be their fall. However, as the race begins, little do we notice the trap we fall into as our own strategy becomes a whisper compared to the overwhelming sirens of our own pride that refuses to allow our competitors to think, even for a moment, that they are better than I.
Our eyes and ears, which are the worlds gateway to our mind and soul, crack open just enough to allow the wind of public opinion to alter our inner conviction. We compromise the long term plan in order to please and satisfy our momentary emotional hick ups that more often than not sways us to a race we have no idea how to run. We know how to run the race we practiced, but this race - we were never prepared for. So now our plan has been changed and we find ourselves expending our energy into reclaiming the original strategy, but we quickly realize that the former strategy was designed for a rested runner at the start of the race. Here YOU are, at the halfway point with an energy level lower then expected, in a state of chaos trying to just play the next quarter of the race by ear. You pull off making it to the last stretch where you planned to be to find out that you've got nothing left to make that amazing last sprint that was to be the crown and jewel of your race.
How easy it is to abandon our convictions and plans in a world marked with competition. We become blinded to our own convictions at the sight of those who are ahead.
Many of us, including myself, are excellent in knowing how to "pull things off". We are experts in "playing it by ear". There is a beauty in being quick on your feet, but it should not be the foundation of your life's plan. It is effective and useful in moments of the unknown, however, it is more of a complimentary element then it is a center piece. We know deep down inside that" pulling it off" was never our initial intention. It is more recovery focused then it is a proactive approach. It is the consequence of compromised strategies in the past. It started long ago at the beginning of the race when we decided to "allow our skills, talents and abilities to bring us to places where our character could not sustain us anymore" (A.R. Bernard), it began the moment we let our emotions control our power. It's when we chose to forfeit our integrity to get ahead, when we dismissed our moral convictions in order to please friends, when we began to think in our heads that...
"If they cheat, why shouldn't I"
"If she talks behind my back, shouldn't I have the right to do the same?"
"Why would I forgive someone who never asks me for forgiveness?"
This rationale is dependent, this logic is solely reliant upon our environment and bases our restraint or release of good on how well the world treats us. This simply means that our actions are enslaved to the worlds condition and treatment towards humanity. We may think that the only fair exchange would be to receive before we are to invest, but then influence would cease to exist. Influence is activated only when you take the first step. Influence is made when investment proceeds reception.
We can only "pull things off" for so long. Playing by ear can only get us so far. They are actually attributes that irresponsibly distributes power. They act as bursts of power that get the job done, but leaves you with no energy for future goals. It's like drinking Red Bull to pull off an all-nighter for tomorrows test, you basically expend tomorrows energy tonight. You compromise your state during the test to be awake long enough the night before to accumulate knowledge. You may pull off that 73%, but you must be willing to admit that you abused the power of time days before when you chose to party it up instead of studying. Red Bull is our quick fix for solutions in life, it is the last resort we cling to when we realize that there's no more steam in our tank to finish the race. The issue is not getting the job done, the issue is how wise you are in controlling the power you have. Controlling your power creates a habit that will sustain you for those times when Red Bull lacks the strength to get you through. Habits are the reliable actions that need no dependency on last resort measures.
The solution is Restraint. Restraint has been highly underestimated. It is often more powerful to withhold a right you have then to capitalize on it. Meekness is a word that describes a power that has been tamed, a power that is nurtured and matured , a power that is under control. There is no honor in one who expends power as soon as it is attained. What can be learned from a teenager who splurges his first paycheque on useless rubbish.
The problem with us today is not that we don’t have enough power, we simply just don’t know what to do with the power we already have. Many of us know what we want to say but have no idea how to say it. Admit it men, you're a smooth talker in front of the mirror, but when it comes to conversing to real life girls, you're not exactly Zack Morris (writing this reminds me of Ryan Reynolds singing "I Swear" in front of his mirror in the movie Just Friends... anyone know what I'm talking about?:)
We go on stage with this brilliant presentation or argument and yet when the spotlight comes on we freeze, the words are there, but for some reason, combining those words together doesn't seem so easy. Controlling our thoughts so that we can effectively communicate what we think is completely different then having great thoughts. Influence is not attain through having wisdom, rather it is identified in the expression of that wisdom.
In the same way, our POWER and RIGHTS is actually only of use when we have the ability to control it. When we have the ability to know when to speak and when to stay silent, when to strike and when to draw back. A powerful army doesn’t send the whole batch of soldiers at once, there is always strategy in how they dispatch.
We must question the meekness in our own lives.
What do you do with power you have? What RIGHT do you abuse? Who ever said winning every argument makes you a winner? I challenge us all to examine who determines your pace. How many times have you picked up the speed simply to catch up to those ahead of you? When did you allow the gossip of those against you rob you from trusting those for you? How many times have you waited for gifts before you gave?
Consider for a moment who you submit to. I was personally shocked to discover how much influence my enemies have on me. It's time to reclaim what was lost and raise the volume of God's standard and direction in our lives!
I end this blog with a song that fits the theme :) Enjoy!
It’s amazing how you can speak right to my heart
Without saying a word you can light up the dark
Try as I may I could never explain
What I hear when you don’t say a thing
Chorus:
The smile on your face lets me know that you need me
There’s a truth in your eyes sayin’ you’ll never leave me
The touch of your hand says you’ll catch me if ever I fall
You say it best when you say nothing at all
All day long I can hear people talking out loud
But when you hold me near, you drown out the crowd
Old mr. webster could never define
What’s being said between your heart and mine
6 comments:
Your posts are getting too long to read in one sitting. LOL.
Not that I don't enjoy them to fit the theme.
i just gots lots to say man :)
I wanted to leave a "serious" comment for awhile. I've noticed a general theme in your posts that I personally can relate to so I'd like to write you a story. I believe it's pertinent to your life stage now.
Not sure if you've heard it before but it's always a goodie. You probably have since you're into this topic matter. If so i'll respond to another post. ;)
Life is like a Jar.
A philosophy professor stood before his class with some items on the table in front of him.
When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, about 2" in diameter.He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks.He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.
The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.He then asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "Yes."
"Now," said the professor, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The rocks are the important things - your family, your partner, your health, your children - things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.
The pebbles are the other things that matter - like your job, your house, your car.
The sand is everything else. The small stuff."
"If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued "there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life.If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take your partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal.Take care of the rocks first - the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."
The End
Jesse I know you always put the rocks first because of your conviction. Everything else will fall into place and there's no need to worry.
Ryan
I wanted to leave a "serious" comment for awhile. I've noticed a general theme in your posts that I personally can relate to so I'd like to write you a story. I believe it's pertinent to your life stage now.
Not sure if you've heard it before but it's always a goodie. You probably have since you're into this topic matter. If so i'll respond to another post. ;)
Life is like a Jar.
A philosophy professor stood before his class with some items on the table in front of him.
When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, about 2" in diameter.He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks.He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.
The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.He then asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "Yes."
"Now," said the professor, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The rocks are the important things - your family, your partner, your health, your children - things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.
The pebbles are the other things that matter - like your job, your house, your car.
The sand is everything else. The small stuff."
"If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued "there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life.If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take your partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal.Take care of the rocks first - the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."
The End
Jesse I know you always put the rocks first because of your conviction. Everything else will fall into place and there's no need to worry.
Ryan
Fascinating.
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