Meek meaning of the word. The meaning of the word meekness in the explanatory dictionary of Ephraim

The material presented below is the author's work of the priest Maxim Kaskun (Moscow region), published on the Internet in the format of video lectures. The author of this project “ierei063”, in order to present information more concisely, has optimized his lectures in such a way that, without losing the main idea, the amount of material is significantly reduced, allowing the reader to quickly and accurately catch the main idea.

Batiushka did a serious, respectable job from various sources, including the writings of the Holy Fathers, collected information on the topic, clearly systematized and revealed it. He was engaged in the development of this material for a very long time, and I do not claim authorship, but in order to save my own time, seeing this worthy work, I dare to place the “abridged version” on my website. Those wishing to refer to the original material, I ask you to go to the Internet project of Priest Maxim Kaskun, who also needs support for his work.

What is meekness

First of all, it is a quiet, unruffled state of mind.

“Meekness is humble devotion to God, united by faith, overshadowed by Divine grace,” Ignatius Brianchaninov defines this. Ignatius Bryanchaninov's definition is a little bit otherworldly, but that's exactly what the definition of meekness in its spiritual action shows.

About its essence, he says the following: “Meekness is the avoidance of angry thoughts, from the indignation of the heart with rage, patience, following Christ, taking up the cross, peace of mind, peace of mind, Christian firmness and courage, not feeling insults, gentleness.”

Meekness is a virtue that overcomes in us irritability and anger, irascibility, rage - these are all types of anger). An angry person should understand that the only virtue that will immediately crush his irritation is meekness. And in this regard, a person will need to work.

Meekness is a commandment. The Gospel beatitudes are the commandments of Christ, to which we must strive, fulfill them and work in this regard, so that not only from our hearts, but even from our minds, the thoughts that we must acquire meekness do not escape.

What gives the acquisition of this virtue?

1. First of all, the knowledge and study of this virtue from the Holy Fathers, from the pastors of the Church, i.e. in church tradition. Why it's important: as the beginning of our conversation - the survey showed - people today really have a very poor idea of ​​meekness. Because meekness, as I have already said, is a modest virtue, very meek, quiet, imperceptible, and those who possess it are always, even in church life, as if outside this life. The people of these Christians hardly notice. A meek old man - he is, as a rule, unknown. There are some elders whom no one has ever seen or visited, with rare exceptions. But people get real help from them. And the vain will always be popular. There are those elders who constantly trumpet themselves. And this is just a sign of lack of meekness.
2. Repentance, repentance, lamentation and lamentation for one's sins. They help to bring forth meekness in a person. St. John Chrysostom and St. John of the Ladder speak of this. Because repentance is the life of the soul, and it is impossible for any virtue to approach and see without repentance. It is imperative that a person must repent, in this repentance acquire humility of wisdom, the knowledge of himself that he is a weak person, and through this approach the limits of meekness.
3. Theophan the Recluse also adds that in order to acquire this virtue, self-reproach and mortal memory are very useful for a person. Self-reproach to a person, as they say, corrects the brain. Because a person who learns to reproach himself, he acquires a true spiritual state. Because every situation is our fault. Remembering what will happen to a person, he humbles himself. Accordingly, humbling himself, he struggles with exaltation, with proud thoughts in his heart. And this helps him to perceive later all the information that happens next to him, without irritation with other people, with meekness, quietly, humbly.
4. Isaiah the Hermit also says that enduring everything that happens to us without embarrassment also helps a person acquire meekness. Whatever happens to us in our life - whether grief, joy, temptation (the desire to eat irresistible) or something else - we must definitely treat this without embarrassment, i.e. without movement, evenly, try to stabilize yourself. Meekness is a stable, unchanging state. Accordingly, a person, trying to be stable, gives the opportunity for meekness to linger in him, take root. Because like joins like.
5. St. John Chrysostom says that there is also a certain time when it is convenient to acquire meekness. When you are insulted, attacked - this is the most favorable time to acquire meekness, there is no other time. The time when we contemplate meekness in our mind is a very fertile time, a dreamy one, a good mood. But then, when they make trouble for us, we need to show all this here. “The time of acquiring meekness - when she encounters malice, insults, etc. - here is her strength (i.e. in practice),” says St. John Chrysostom. It can be added that in practice, self-control, self-knowledge are very useful for a person. And yet, as Professor A. I. Osipov says, the ability to “objectify oneself”, i.e. - the ability to look at yourself from the outside. In fact, you can’t look at yourself from the outside, as if someone installs video surveillance for you during the day, and you won’t know about it. And then you look at yourself - how you behave. It seems to me that this will be a revelation for a person who wants to be saved. He will simply see himself from the side and think: “Lord, what I really am ... This is horror.” After all, we do not see ourselves! We think that we are perfect, that we are the best! From the outside, when you look - it's just a nightmare. And if this really happens to someone in life, it will be a great mercy of God, because it is best to see yourself, of course, on a camera that is hidden.
6. When acquiring meekness, it is very important to stock up on patience, to drive away despair and despondency that virtue is not given. Every virtue is a matter of great achievement, patience, time, purification. And therefore, a person who has decided for himself that he will acquire virtues, in particular meekness, he must, of course, know that all this will not be all at once, very far away. And he will fall more than once, and be disgraced more than once, and all the time he will see that he is unworthy and not humble. And through this self-knowledge, in the end, he will humble himself, acquire meekness in his soul, and will really be fragrant with this virtue.
7. And it is also very important that when a person works in acquiring this virtue, falls, strives, the main knowledge awakens in him - when a person sees that, despite the fact that he is in temptations, that virtue does not go, that it is impossible to be meek , - he, in spite of everything inside, acquires knowledge that tells him: “You are on the right path. Meekness must be acquired. We have to finish it to the end." All this a person acquires just during practical exercises. Before that, everything is in theory, everything is bookish, and it really will not give anything to a person.

Virtue is always acquired only in deeds, in deeds in a person's life.

Degrees of progress in the virtue of meekness (according to St. John of the Ladder):

1. Silence of the mouth during the movement of anger. We have already said what it is: when you are insulted - well, shut your mouth, well, don't say anything. Go to the bathroom, go for a walk, whatever, just don't say anything. Because in anger a person is very, very eloquent. So he will tell that then he himself is ashamed. Therefore, to avoid this, it is better to keep your mouth shut.
2. Silence of the mind or thoughts with a subtle movement of anger. Anger, as a demonic influence on a person, very often goes in an open way. The holy fathers distinguished many different subtle movements that make a person angry. And when there are these subtle movements, then, firstly, the mind must see it all, and secondly, it must not respond in any way. Do not respond because it is a deceitful way. This number can be attributed to, for example, when a person gets up in the morning - and everything is bad ... And we know that the passion of anger is a natural passion, it is rooted in human nature, but it was given to a person to fight sin. There is such a day - you get up, and everything is bad, you have not done anything yet, and you are already angry. Why are you evil? Because when you got up, there was already some irritation in your soul, which appeared as a result of some kind of dissatisfaction. So, all these subtle movements that were at the beginning, they happened rapidly. The mind must immediately "scan" them (see) and prevent them. Spend time, 5-10 minutes, on heartfelt prayer (in your own words or according to the rule - whoever can) to drive this state away. It happens that a person prays - the prayer went well, word for word, everything is going fine ... Then he remembered that someone owed him something. And yet there is no prayer. Because anger drives away prayer. Irritation, anger - all this is happening rapidly and a person cannot control himself. And in the end it turned out that prayer was a sin instead of getting a benefit. Therefore, one must be careful.
3. When a person is already in unshakable silence, he has acquired meekness in fullness. Whatever happens there: stuns, insults, they robbed you, they did something else, nothing worries. At St. Nikolai Serbsky has a letter to a man who signed some papers and was deprived of a small tavern. He wanted to hang himself, came to the grave, made a noose, but fell asleep from the weight. His mother appeared to him, enlightened him, said wonderful words: “There are many poor people in paradise, but no one suicidal.” She let him know that if you are poor, you still have the opportunity to be saved. But if you now lay hands on yourself - that's it, we will not meet with you, "there is no one here." He came to his senses, and then he humbly stood at this tavern and begged for alms from those who entered there, and all the time wept, humbled himself. And to him St. Nikolai Serbsky writes that you have already gained, you have already defeated the evil one, you have already done a lot. Because you resigned yourself, did not take revenge, you experienced it all in yourself. And, indeed, this is the state that you have acquired - it is important, go ahead, do not stop.

But when a person really receives this unshakable silence from the Lord as a reward for a feat, it gives him very many benefits, which we will talk about at the end.

Signs of the virtue of meekness working in our soul:

First of all, says John of the Ladder, when offended, we must remain silent. But the silence of thoughts is sometimes, of course, very difficult to observe, to keep in your soul - that is, not to get irritated, not offended. But he also said the second thing, we definitely should keep it: “and a pledge.”

Degrees of manifestation of meekness:

Endure silently dishonor, albeit with illness, sadness of the soul. This is the most initial form - we silently, quietly endure, but inside we grieve. A person cannot immediately become meek, no way, it is impossible. You need to practice this first. And indeed it is so: if you forgive him, he is not forgiven, if you try to forgive him, he cannot. We must fight, we must remake ourselves, and the grace of God, seeing our striving, seeing our labors, helps us and purifies our souls. This is the first and indispensable condition, without which no one will achieve meekness.

When a person can already be carefree in these reproach. Offended - well, thank God. The person is right about it. This is another degree. And when a person sees that this is so, he again should not think that he has risen to his feet. St. Isaac the Syrian has such an example when a man wrote to him at the monastery: “Come visit me and give me guidance with my family.” He begged him for quite a long time, and St. Isaac wrote to him: “We do not leave the cell to our monks, and even more so - to go into the world ... And all the passions that fell asleep in us, we crushed them inside ourselves, pressed them, they simply ignite. Sorry, my salvation is dearer to me. Because what has been woven for decades, I can lose in an instant. I did not go into the desert for this, in order to lose it all. If the Monk Isaac spoke about this, then all the more we are with you.

When we feel some changes in ourselves that we can forgive - we should by no means think that we have already reached some kind of harbor. There is a lot of struggle ahead, and the first degree, when we are sad, it will still await us, because different types of resentment bring different depths of grief. Especially the insults of loved ones, friends are much more bitter for us than, for example, if the boss at work says something. Therefore, one must be ready for everything here and not rejoice at temporary successes, but patiently wait for creative benefits.

1. Accept insults as praise. They called you names - and you think: behold, they praised me. Yes, foolishness. Say - well, what are you talking about, father. But in fact it is. After all, the very last degree is generally the desire for dishonor. That is, a meek, humble person desires dishonor, because he perceives these dishonor precisely as a purifying fire for salvation in Christ. And when he is insulted, he does not even see that someone insulted him, because he is all inflamed with love for God, love for man, and sees the tragedy that we all lie in evil, the whole world lies in evil. And we inflict these wounds on each other. And he, as a co-worker of Christ, passes this sin over his back, throws it away, does not pay attention to it and tries to extinguish this evil in himself with love. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." A peacemaker must necessarily be a meek person.

So, when we are offended, we should know that the Lord praises us. And when we are praised, it means that the Lord does not spoil us. "Woe to you when all people speak well of you." And therefore, indeed, when such a temptation occurs, one must understand that this is all by the grace of God. Nothing just happens to us. Nothing! Christ always stands next to us and educates each of us.

Keeping Meekness:

Here we have acquired something, learned something, accepted something, started working. How to save it? How to keep that state, that understanding, which we have acquired a little in the works?

1. Avoid communication with angry, vicious, quarrelsome, says Isaac Sirin. “You will be reverend with a reverend, you will be depraved with an obstinate one.” “With whom you will lead, from that you will type,” says folk wisdom. Therefore, if we want to acquire the virtue of meekness, then every company that does not have a meek spirit must be despised by us as the place where we are. People should never be despised. But to despise that place, those squabbles, those quarrels, to have a complete rejection of that spirit inside - we must definitely remember this and never stay too long in such a company. If we feel that something is not right, not right, we need to leave immediately. Ask everyone's forgiveness and disappear. Because with the obstinate you will be corrupted. And with the reverend you will be reverend. And therefore, of course, you still need to look for people for communication who are meek, wise, humble, in communication with whom you can see something else. Not what we usually see in our lives. If we meet such people on our way, we must value this meeting, cherish it. And all this communication is really spiritual, edifying to preserve.

1. St. John Chrysostom says that one should not think anything bad about one's neighbors, nothing at all. First of all, because when we think badly about a person, we can rise above him: if he is thin, then I am good, if he is stupid, then I am smart. If he is incompetent, then I can do everything. And if I know how, but he does not, then I can afford to get annoyed with him and talk to him in raised tones. Roughly speaking, we don’t speak with the boss in raised tones. And with his relatives, friends, a person can speak in a raised tone, because he considers himself better. Indeed, in a family, these scandals often occur only because a person relaxes in a family environment and he no longer sees that he begins to live simply by sins. If in society he persists, somehow disciplines himself, an external factor influences him, he tries to be pious, modest, well-mannered, intelligent at worst, then at home he can say everything that he thinks about everyone, and then with no one don't talk.

1. Do not take revenge, do not be angry and do not remember malice in any case. If you want to preserve the rudiments of virtue, in no case should you take revenge, be angry, wish something bad, otherwise you will suffer great damage.

1. The Monk Abba Dorotheos says that if you want to maintain meekness, do not avoid those who grieve you. If you avoid, meekness will flee from you. Because through those who grieve us, we acquire this meekness, strengthen ourselves in it and perfect ourselves in virtue. And it is just impossible for a person to always live in ideal conditions. It's impossible.

We want to live so that no one touches us, but this is a disastrous path. Surely someone must humble us. And each of us must have these humbling circumstances in life. Without these sorrows, no one can be saved.

1. It is also very important to pay attention to false meekness, which can pretend to be a virtue and thereby also lead us astray from the true path. Cowardice and cowardice, which manifest themselves in some relaxation, in inaction, in laziness - they very often pretend to be meekness: "You keep silent - this is Christian."

1. Barsanuphius the Great and the prophet John say that patience can also be associated with anger. We said that Ignatius Brianchaninov wrote that meekness has patience in itself. So, it happens that a person endures because he is angry, embittered, tense. This often happens: "No matter what, I will do it, because I want that person to be worse." There are such thoughts, and people can really take this path and go through it to the end, and this is very scary. This is to be feared.

Fruits of Meekness:

“Protection of the offended and indignation at those who offend are the fruit of meekness,” says St. John Chrysostom. Indignation at those who offend, at those who seduce. Imagine - a meek person, it turns out, should be indignant. He should not be angry, angry, spiteful, but show indignation, not resign himself to sin, oppose it, including in an active form - this, of course, is a sign of the virtue of meekness. And the one who does not do this today simply does not even understand that he is in the inactive state of his soul. And the person does nothing, and feels nothing, and is not indignant at anything.

Compassion for the needy and the poor awakens meekness in a person.

"And also," says Ignaty Brianchaninov, "courage, fortitude and heroism." Almost all courageous people, our heroes, were meek people. Even if you look at history, the lives of various saints, these were meek people in fact. But they expressed their indignation and went to their death, became heroes, voluntarily, courageously endured such mockery of themselves, such tortures ... All this was given to them by meekness - precisely a quiet, serene (unchanging) state of mind. Meekness gives a person stability, immutability in no way. And therefore, when a person who knows meekness must accept some kind of suffering, he is not afraid of anything, he does not change, because he is stable.

Etc. Peter of Damascus says that meekness gives a person an equal attitude both to sorrow and to joy; serenity, tranquility, equanimity. It is the spiritual freedom and spiritual stability of man. Whatever happens, he is always in an even state of his spirit, always in prayer, always in thanksgiving, always in the knowledge of God's providence and care for himself.

Gregory of Nyssa says the following: "Meekness gives a person a quiet and silent life."

Familiar words? At the Liturgy we repeat all the time: "a quiet and silent life." These are the words of the Apostle Paul from his Epistle. So this quiet and silent life, or even joy, paradise, as he says about it, really gives a person meekness. A stable, quiet, silent life, without any rumor, without any fuss, without any enthusiasm.

A person simply lives, rejoices, prays to God and benefits himself and others around him.

Peter of Damascus says that meekness leads the mind to knowledge and reason. Abba Evagrius adds that wisdom rests in a meek heart. This is also one of the important fruits of meekness, because it is meekness that gives a person a platform on which the house of wisdom, reasoning, and understanding is built. And it is impossible for a man to be wise without meekness.

Can you imagine an angry sage? In general, can this be? There was such a wise man - no one considers him a wise man, but he was a student of Socrates. His name was Aristippus. He was a very “wise” person, he mocked people so much… I will tell you two episodes from his life.

The first time he saved his life. When he sailed on the ship, the sailors found out that he had gold. Imagine: the sea, no police, no one ... They say: "Let's throw it away, and divide the gold." They come up, and he shakes the gold overboard. They ask him: “What are you doing?”, - he says: “Let the gold perish rather than Aristippus.”

He was a man, of course, smart, but not wise. He came to visit a tyrant, and he said to the eunuch: "Go, show him the apartments." He goes, shows him, and everywhere is marble, everything is so white ... Everything is clean everywhere, everything shines. Aristippus takes it and spits in his face. The eunuch says: “Why are you doing this?”, - he replies: “Sorry, friend, I have not found a dirtier place here.” How they didn't "go" to him after that, I wonder. Therefore, he was a wise man, but, of course, he was not a meek person. And such wisdom is, of course, pagan wisdom. And it cannot be called wisdom. Because a wise person should always be reverent, pious. And such "wise men" are just smart people, rogues, and you can still call them whatever you like.

John of the Ladder says that meekness gives a person boldness in prayer and pure prayer. It is a meek, quiet, serene state of mind that gives a person pure prayer and boldness in it. With us today, prayer is always defiled by vanity, thoughts, because, of course, we lack the virtue of meekness - this serenity, quietness, calmness, slowness to sin, to anger - is not enough.

Nilus of Sinai says that meekness gives a person vision of God. The prophet Moses was the meekest of people, so we call him "God-seer." For his meekness, he was vouchsafed the great grace of God and saw God face to face.

Peter of Damascus says that meekness gives a man the beginning of humility. And Basil the Great gives such a scheme that goodness (when a person tunes in to virtue) gives rise to meekness, and meekness gives rise to kindness in a person, and kindness gives birth to love. Today we have love for our neighbor as a pledge in ourselves. Of course, we cannot have perfect love right away. We can only have a guarantee of love and realize it. But love itself as such is not yet available to us.

“Get meekness; for the meek is adorned with every good deed. The meek one, even if offended, rejoices; if mournful, thanks; the wrathful tames love; taking on blows, remains firm; during a quarrel, he is calm, rejoices in submission, is not stung by pride, rejoices in humiliation, does not exalt himself with merits, does not boast, lives in silence with everyone; he is submissive to every superior, ready for any business, deserves approval in everything, everyone praises him. He is far from slyness, far from hypocrisy. He does not serve slyness, he does not submit to envy, he abhors slander, he does not tolerate arrogance, he hates detractors, he abhors earphones. O blessed wealth - meekness! She is glorified by all." Amen!

Irresponsibility, resignation, good nature, peacefulness, gentleness, humility, modesty, humility, patience, compliance, spinelessness. Pigeon meekness... Dictionary of Russian synonyms and expressions similar in meaning. under. ed. N. Abramova, M ... Synonym dictionary

MEEKNESS, meekness, pl. no, female distraction noun to meek; humility, humility, humility. Meekness of temper. Say something with gentleness in your voice. Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 1940 ... Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov

MEEK, oh, oh; current, current, current. Gentle, humble, meek. K. character. A meek soul. Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 ... Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov

meekness- pigeon (Block); radiant (Corinthian); heavenly (Kozlov) Epithets of literary Russian speech. M: The supplier of the court of His Majesty, the partnership of the printing press A. A. Levenson. A. L. Zelenetsky. 1913 ... Dictionary of epithets

meekness- MEEKNESS1, irresponsibility, resignation, humility Dictionary-thesaurus of synonyms of Russian speech

A quality highly valued in Holy Russia. According to the definition of St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, meekness is humble devotion to God, united with faith and overshadowed by Divine grace, submissiveness of the heart to the mind. St. Cyril of Turov uttered the words that became ... ... Russian history

meekness- mildness of spirit, gentleness A. Human modesty 1. Meekness is required of us as a Christian quality: Col. 3:12; 1 Tim 6:11 one of the fruits of the Spirit: Gal 5:22,23 benevolence: Eph 4:2; Phil 4:5; 1 Pet 3:15 2. Gentleness great strength mild… … Bible: Topical Dictionary

Meekness- - gentleness, humility, humility, condescension. Possible manifestations are a calm tone, a quiet voice, a modest posture. Do not seek wisdom, seek meekness (proverb). Meekness is most often assessed as timidity, fear, spiritual weakness, ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary of Psychology and Pedagogy

Columbine simplicity. Book. About a meek, quiet, patient person. BMS 1998, 318 ... Big dictionary of Russian sayings

Meekness- (other Russian - tamed) - the moral ethical quality of a person, expressed as modesty, benevolence, tolerance and patience, condescension, humility, gentleness - all this coexisting in a person. A meek person... Fundamentals of spiritual culture (encyclopedic dictionary of a teacher)

J. distraction. noun according to adj. meek Explanatory Dictionary of Ephraim. T. F. Efremova. 2000... Modern explanatory dictionary of the Russian language Efremova

Books

• How to educate your soul. Humility and meekness in our daily life, . This book is dedicated to the two greatest Christian virtues - humility and meekness, and consists of selected sayings of the great elders, who in their own words, as it were, answer our questions about ...
• How to acquire meekness of the soul? Holy Fathers on Meekness, Mikhail Davidovich Molotnikov. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth (Matt. 5:5) - such is the third Gospel beatitude. What is meekness in the Orthodox sense, what kind of "land" will the meek inherit, and why do they...

The third beatitude sounds like this: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5). Who are the meek and what is meekness?

Silence and patience?

If we turn to the Greek text of the Gospel, we can see that the Greek word "praos" is translated by the word meek. In addition to the meaning “meek”, this word is also translated as quiet, affectionate, calm, restrained, tame, tame. All these meanings can be conveyed in one word - good-natured. The great teacher of monastic life, St. Ephraim the Syrian (306-373) wrote about the meek in this way: “The meek one, even if he is offended, rejoices; if offended - thanks; angry - tames love; taking blows - does not rush; when they quarrel with him - calm; when (he) is subdued, he has fun ..., rejoices in humiliation, does not boast of his merits, is peaceful with everyone ..., alien to slyness, does not know envy.

The well-known spiritual writer of the 20th century, St. Nicholas of Serbia (1881-1956), has a wonderful statement: “Meekness is the daughter of weeping and the granddaughter of humility.” It turns out that the meek is the one who silently endures all life's troubles and humiliations, and in addition to everything else, is ready to meekly obey. If the previous commandments about spiritual poverty and spiritual weeping can still be somehow understood and accepted by a modern person - yes, you need to rely on God in everything and it would be good to mourn your sins - but how to be meek? What is good and useful in constant patience, up to "joy in humiliation"? The world dictates completely different conditions, because, as you know, "the strongest survive." In order to win here and now, boldness is more in demand - a quality opposite to meekness. Why should I endure, obey, forgive, love? Let me be tolerated, obeyed, forgive and loved. And I will only consume. And oddly enough, it is these people who prosper, getting everything from life.

It is even more interesting that this contradiction was not noticed today or even yesterday. The commandment of the blessedness of the meek is a direct quote from the Psalms: The meek shall inherit the earth and enjoy plenty of peace(Ps. 36:11). Psalm 36 is a discussion about the righteous and the wicked. The psalmist sees that the wicked - prosper in their way, in their hands - swords and bows, they possess many riches, they are like a strong, rooted, many-branched tree (see Ps. 36, 7, 14, 16, 35). What is left for the righteous? Trust in the Lord and do good; live on earth and keep the truth(Ps. 36:3). Because only goodness, faith, hope and love are real life, real existence. The success of the wicked is an illusion, a deceit. All this is only here and now. The wicked do not and cannot have a future: Do not be jealous of evildoers, do not envy those who do iniquity, for they, like grass, will soon be cut down and, like green grass, wither(Ps. 36:1-2) and Turn away from evil, and do good, and you will live forever: for the Lord loves righteousness and does not forsake His saints; they will remain forever; and the offspring of the wicked will be destroyed. The righteous will inherit the earth and live on it forever(Ps. 36:27-29).

It was not by chance that the Lord took the words from this particular psalm. Roman-occupied Judea saw what was said in the quotations just given. The wicked pagans, established in their title of rulers of the world, oppressing the poor and trampling on the holy things, subdued the chosen people of God. And already the very hope for the Savior promised by God turned into the expectation of a leader who would lead the army to the war of liberation and conquer and destroy the enemies. But the Savior who came meekly reminds us that it is meekness and patience that will make believers heirs of the promises of God. In these words - a call to rethink the whole order familiar to us. And not just to rethink, but to change it, starting first of all with ourselves. Be meek, loving, patient, not arrogant, proud, hateful and vengeful. Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you.(Matthew 5:44).

Be like Christ

The Lord Jesus Christ spoke of Himself: I am meek and lowly in heart(Matthew 11:29). The meek are likened to Christ. But Christ promised the meek that they would inherit the earth. What land and where? And did He Himself inherit, being meek? Of course, to see in the words of Christ the promise of a well-maintained plot of land would be a mistake. After all, the Promised Himself did not own anything in earthly life - he did not even have a place where He could bow your head(Matthew 8:20). And again we have a paradox - Christ, like God - the Lord of the world, but at the same time - he is the poorest of all - foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests(Matt. 8:20), but He is nothing. Nothing of earthly blessings, nothing of what sometimes turns into an idol, to which everything is sacrificed. The Lord promises the meek a land where they live and do not die - land of the living(Ps. 26:13), eternal life with God, the life that Christ Himself lives. And only those who were meek, who were patient and gentle, who were ready to open their love to others, can accept this gift. Only the sincere and selfless can truly possess. God loves a person not because He wants to receive something in return for this love (and does God need something in our sense?), but because He Himself is Love. Therefore, the signs of meekness can be called sincerity and disinterestedness - the desire to give oneself without expecting a reward. Because the reward from God is beyond any expectations. This idea was best expressed by the apostle Paul when he wrote to the Christian community of the city of Philippi that Christ made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, becoming in the likeness of men, and becoming in appearance like a man; He humbled Himself, being obedient even unto death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven, on earth, and in the underworld.(Phil. 2, 7-10).

In the well-known book by Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963) "The Letters of Balamut", where the old experienced demon - Balamut - gives advice to his young nephew - the tempting demon Gnusik, a simple and very deep idea is expressed that when a person sincerely and disinterestedly enjoys anything, he thereby protects himself from the most subtle demonic temptations. Because meekness, united with sincerity and selflessness, opens the way for God in the heart of man.

This is the answer to the question posed at the beginning of our discussion - how can one be meek in this world? Genuine meekness, meekness in all its fullness was revealed by Jesus Christ. And this means that in order to be meek, one must be like Christ. Is it possible for a human? Man cannot become Christ in the literal sense, because Christ is the eternal God. But each of us - and all of us together in the Church, the Body of Christ - can become god-like, that is, like Christ. The power of Christ appeared precisely in the seeming defeat - rejection by the people, crucifixion and death. Crucifixion and death did not become an inglorious end, but an eternal victory over sin. The victory came from where it would be most difficult to expect it. Therefore, our victory is connected with those virtues that are least valued in this world. Probably, this can be called one of the properties of God - to reveal Himself through what no one expects. And one of the most striking manifestations of the power of God is the appearance of the prophet Elijah: And he said (the Lord to Elijah): go out and stand on the mountain before the face of the Lord, and, behold, the Lord will pass, and a great and strong wind, tearing apart the mountains and crushing the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord is not in the wind; after the wind there is an earthquake, but the Lord is not in the earthquake; after the earthquake there is fire, but the Lord is not in the fire; after the fire, the breath of a quiet wind ...(1 Kings 19:11-12). We do not see God in the destructive and uncontrollable elements, but in the refreshing and gentle touch of a quiet wind, barely audible rustling the leaves. Quiet and meek is the touch of God...

To be continued

Newspaper "Saratov panorama" No. 40 (968)

In 1 Peter it says: “Let your adornment be not external weaving of hair, not golden headdresses or elegance in clothes, but a man hidden in the heart in the imperishable beauty of a meek and silent spirit, which is precious before God” (1 Peter 3:3-4). As we can see, meekness in the eyes of God is the incorruptible beauty of our spiritual man. It was the beauty of our Lord Jesus Christ. And in the eyes of the Heavenly Father, it is a treasure. If a person is silent, then this does not mean that he gentle. This can rage in the heart! But if a person is not malicious, not vindictive, not irritable, not vindictive, these are signs meekness. "But can it be combined in one person?" you ask. Indeed, who among us can have all this? So, when we talk about meekness, we should also talk about how to achieve it. These qualities are not present in a person by themselves.

Let's pay attention: in order for an animal to work for a person, it must first be tamed. We, the people of the technical age, are already far from this, but many elders still know that the horse had to be ridden, accustomed to a saddle, collar, bridle, otherwise it would not serve. Our flesh is exactly the same: if it is not accustomed to spiritual work, if it is not tamed, then by itself it cannot serve God. Read two passages meekness what promises the Lord associates with her: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth" (Matthew 5:5). And the second passage from the non-canonical book of Jesus the son of Sirach: "My son! conduct your affairs with meekness, and you will be loved by a godly person.” (Sir.3:17).

Bliss of the meek

What is bliss meek? The Word says they will inherit the earth. “But when and where could the meek achieve anything?” - you ask. Rather, the aggressors inherit the land, or the arrogant achieve their goals. We all know very well that it is unlikely meek can achieve something. In the eyes of this world meekness considered a defect, even a weakness.

But if we look at the history of mankind, we will see that the predatory, warlike and bloodthirsty nations, which led people into fear, then always faded away, sometimes even the Lord completely destroyed them. There are many examples of this in the Bible. And peace-loving people, who valued the law and respected other people, eventually won. The word of God, of course, refers to the new earth and the new heaven. It says that the meek shall inherit the earth. Here on this earth meek You have to give up a lot, that's for sure.

Meekness is not weakness

However meekness is not a weakness, but on the contrary, rather, it is the strength to control oneself. The power of self-control, patience. A worldly person or even a Christian can be natural or carnal. It even happens that a person can have the Holy Spirit, but lives according to the flesh, and not according to the spirit. This is mentioned in the 8th chapter of the letter to the Romans. If a person screams the loudest or intimidates or pressures, then in fact this is weakness, spiritual weakness. But when we are able in some controversial issue not to raise our voice, not to get angry, not to allow irritation, not to avenge ourselves, not to threaten, then these are signs of meekness, this has a pacifying effect on people, but this requires strength of mind.

The book of Numbers says: “Moses was the meekest of all people on earth” (Num. 12:3). the mildest. There the word is used in superlatives. It is written that Aaron and Miriam began to accuse Moses of taking an Ethiopian wife. In fact, they allegedly accused him on legal grounds, but Moses did not defend himself, he was silent. And this manifested itself meekness. But the Lord stood up for him. We remember that He struck Miriam with leprosy. Why is that? Because Moses was faithful and the Lord trusted him in everything. Moses did not rejoice at the punishment of his sister, but prayed and interceded before God for her mercy. And this, too, showed his meekness. There is a lot to learn here. Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself was meek and guided us to do the same: "Guides the meek to righteousness, and teaches the meek in His ways" (Ps. 24:9).

In order to know the ways of the Lord, to follow these paths, it is not enough to agree with them theoretically. It turns out that you need to change something in your heart, in your behavior, you need to stay awake and achieve meekness. Without striving for meekness, we cannot learn from God. We all know how to teach others, but if we do not teach ourselves, then our words will be empty. And we know this in practice, that often a person teaches others, but is useless for his soul. It's worth thinking about. And if we want to learn from the Lord, we need to tame our heart, but it does not immediately obey, it is like a recalcitrant horse. It is difficult to put the bridle of the Holy Spirit on our hearts. But if we want to serve the Lord, we want Him to guide us, we will try, and the Lord will help us. Remember, David wasn't even angry when Shimei cursed him. He met it meekly - he needed the mercy of God and His guidance. David had mistakes, blunders, sins, but meekness he always won over the heart of the Lord.

Meekness is God's great weapon

The promise in Proverbs is: “With meekness the nobleman bows to mercy, and the soft tongue breaks the bone” (Prov. 25:15). This is a very wise teaching and we need to put it in our hearts, learn not to persist, not to insist on our own.

Remember the time when an angry David went to punish Nabal? Nabal really insulted him, treated him cruelly. And Nabal's wife Abigail, hearing about this, went out to meet David with her meek and wise word. And she stopped David, persuaded him not to shed blood. The Word of God gives us great lessons.

We need to delve into them, reflect on them, learn to act in our circumstances in a similar way, because meekness is the great weapon of God, and we need it both in the church and in family relationships. How often do we? We are ready to show our power with anger, shouting or some other carnal methods and forget that God has given us a stronger weapon - a spiritual one! Abigail, a weak woman, alone stopped a large armed detachment! And this is an example of what meekness does. Meekness is a strength, not a weakness.

We need to acquire a spiritual perspective on life so that we can be victorious Christians, not broken and defeated. The book of Ecclesiastes says: “If the anger of the leader breaks out on you, then do not leave your place; because meekness covers great transgressions" (Eccl. 10:4). Do you see what meekness does? A person does not have the strength to fight the boss, even if he is wrong. And if the person is not right - even more so. But meekness also comes to the rescue in this case. And it helps always, in any situation, because it is a spiritual approach. There is another important instruction in Scripture: “If a person falls into any sin, you spiritual ones, correct it in the spirit of meekness, watching each one of yourselves so as not to be tempted” (Gal. 6:1). Do you understand? We are not to look down on a sinning person. We must correct him in the spirit of meekness, so that we ourselves do not fall into temptation, in order to have the fear of God, for no one is free from sin. In order for us to serve the Lord - and we all want this - we first need to put on meekness and don't be mean to anyone. This applies to every person, whether he is highly placed or not. If this does not happen, we will not only not be able to solve problems, but we will multiply them.

I want to draw your attention to wisdom and meekness the prophet Nathan. Do you remember what happened when the Lord sent him to rebuke David? He did not slash from the shoulder, or, like us, directly tell the truth in the face. He understood that he was dealing with a king who had sinned grievously. Why, and not only to the king, to any person it is not so easy to approach with reproof. Nathan came up with wisdom, he started with a parable, as if from afar, and it broke David's heart. Meekness is always accompanied by wisdom; without wisdom it is simply impossible. Proverbs says that wisdom is with the humble (Prov. 11:2). See how all spiritual qualities are interconnected. To comprehend them, we need to delve deeper into the Word of God.

Very important advice is given in the epistle of James: “Who is wise and prudent among you? prove it in fact by good behavior with wise meekness" (James 3:13). Yes, only in this way can we prove something to someone, convince someone of something: by good behavior with wise meekness. At the same time, the most irritated and unwilling person will smile and say: thank God! Meekness, which is called imperishable beauty, is not easily achieved, like all spiritual qualities: it is achieved through the cross, when a person humbles himself, rejects himself. The Lord says: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest; take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28-29). Here is the way - we will find rest, there will be peace in our soul when we learn meekness from our Lord. If we are His children, His disciples, we should strive to live as He lived on this earth. And then we can learn from Him. After all, we came to Him, right? So how can we walk our own ways? We will never learn anything along the way. We came and every time we come to the Lord through repentance. There is no other way to upgrade. To learn meekness from the Lord, we must take His yoke. The yoke is the cross, and the yoke is good, and His burden will be light for us, if we, not in words, but in truth, agree to follow His path. Brothers and sisters! Let us humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God!

Mikhail Burchak,

• MEEKNESS in the Full accentuated paradigm according to Zaliznyak:
  cro "toast, cro" tost, cro" tost, cro" tost, cro" tost, cro" tost, cro" tost, cro" tost, cro" tost, cro" tost, cro" tost, ...
• MEEKNESS in the Dictionary of synonyms of Abramov:
  irresponsibility, resignation, good nature, peacefulness, gentleness, humility, modesty, humility, patience, compliance, spinelessness. Meekness…
• MEEKNESS in the dictionary of Synonyms of the Russian language:
  malice, malicelessness, irresponsibility, resignation, forgiveness, meekness, kindness, kindness, gentleness, malice, malice, malice, humility, obedience, obedience, humility, humility, humility, ...
• MEEKNESS in the New explanatory and derivational dictionary of the Russian language Efremova:
  well. Distraction noun by value adj.: ...
• MEEKNESS in the Dictionary of the Russian Language Lopatin:
  shortness, ...
• MEEKNESS in the Complete Spelling Dictionary of the Russian Language:
  meekness, ...
• MEEKNESS in the Spelling Dictionary:
  shortness, ...
• MEEKNESS in the Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language Ushakov:
  meekness, pl. no, w. Distraction noun to meek; humility, humility, humility. Meekness of temper. Say something. with meekness in...
• MEEKNESS in the New Dictionary of the Russian Language Efremova:
  well. distraction noun according to adj. …
• MEEKNESS in the Big Modern Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language:
  well. distraction noun according to adj. …
• MEEK, MEEK
  (Mt 5:5) - there is a quiet disposition of the spirit, combined with caution, so as not to irritate anyone and not be irritated by anything. Special actions...
• Rogues in the Wiki Quote:
  Data: 2008-09-06 Time: 04:51:53 Quotes from the tragedy "Robbers", 1781 (author Friedrich Schiller) *- You want me to curse my ...
• ABOUT THE BRAVEL NEW WORLD at the Wiki Quote:
  Data: 2009-03-06 Time: 23:04:41 Brave New World is a dystopian novel by the English writer …
• ILYA MASODOV in Wiki Quote:
  Data: 2008-06-13 Time: 02:27:05 Ilya Masodov (b. 1966) is a contemporary Russian writer. = The warmth of your hands = * At Antonina's...
• GILBERT CHESTERTON at Wiki Quote:
  Data: 2008-10-28 Time: 15:09:24 B * Adventures can be crazy; the hero must be reasonable. * Most modern philosophers are ready ...
• ANTHONY THE GREAT in Wiki Quote:
  Data: 2009-06-02 Time: 15:49:47 Anthony the Great (c. 251-356) - reverend, hermit of the Egyptian desert, founder of monasticism. = B = * We will ...
• PROTESTANT ETHICS in the Newest Philosophical Dictionary.
• ON THE OTHER SIDE OF GOOD AND EVIL. PRELUDE TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE FUTURE in the Dictionary of Postmodernism:
  ("Jenseits von Gut und Böse", 1886) is the work of Nietzsche, which occupies a special place in his work. "According to tS.D.iZ." is on the threshold...
• TIFERET in the Dictionary Index of Theosophical Concepts to the Secret Doctrine, Theosophical Dictionary:
  (Heb.) Beauty; the sixth of the ten Sephiroth, the masculine active force answering wow, V, from the Tetragrammaton IHVH; also called Melek or King; …
• PIGEON in the Bible Dictionary:
  - a clean bird. Scripture distinguishes her meekness, gentleness. The Lord also says to the believers: “be simple as doves” (Matt. 10:16). …
• PHILIP in the Bible Encyclopedia of Nicephorus:
  (loving horses) - the name of the following persons: 1 Mac 1:1, 6:2 - the famous king of Macedonia, father of Alexander the Great, who reigned 359-336. before …
• FLP 4
  Open Orthodox Encyclopedia "TREE". Bible. New Testament. Epistle to the Philippians. Chapter 4 Chapters: 1 2 3 4 ...
• TIT 3 in the Orthodox Encyclopedia Tree:
  Open Orthodox Encyclopedia "TREE". Bible. New Testament. Epistle to Titus. Chapter 3 Chapters: 1 2 3 1 …
• SIR 36 in the Orthodox Encyclopedia Tree:
  Open Orthodox Encyclopedia "TREE". Bible. Old Testament. Book of Wisdom of Jesus, son of Sirach. Chapter 36 Chapters: 1 2 ...
• SIR 1 in the Orthodox Encyclopedia Tree:
  Open Orthodox Encyclopedia "TREE". Bible. Old Testament. Book of Wisdom of Jesus, son of Sirach. Chapter 1 Chapters: 1 2 ...