Wisdom Vault — onlinknow.co.za

pleasures, honors fall, Thou in thy virtue shalt survive them T all." THE MIGHT OF MEEKNESS /TTVHE mountain bends not to the fiercest -*- storm, but it shields the fledgeling and the lamb; and though all men tread upon it, yet it protects them, and bears them up upon its deathless bosom.

Even so is it with the meek man who still, though shaken and disturbed by none, compassionately bends to shield the lowliest creature, and, though he may be despised, lifts all men up and lovingly protects them. As glorious as the mountain in its silent might is the divine man in his silent Meek- ness; like its form, his loving compassion is expansive and sublime.

Truly his body, like the mountain's base, is fixed in the valleys and the mists; but the summit of his being is eternally bathed in cloudless glory, and lives with the Silences. He that has found Meekness has found divinity; he has realized the divine con- sciousness, and knows himself as^ divine. 116 THE HEAVENLY LIFE He also knows all others as divine, though they know it not themselves, being asleep and dreaming.

Meekness is a divine quality, and as such is all-powerful. The meek man overcomes by not resisting, and by allowing himself to be defeated he attains to the Supreme Conquest. The man that conquers another by force is strong; the man that conquers himself by Meekness is mighty.

He that conquers another by force will himself likewise be conquered; he that conquers himself by Meekness shall never be overthrown, the human cannot overcome the divine. The meek man is triumphant in defeat. Soc- rates lives the more by being put to death; in the crucified Jesus the risen Christ is revealed, and Stephen in receiving his stoning defies the hurting power of stones.

What is real cannot be destroyed. When a man finds that within him which is real, which is constant, abiding, changeless, and eternal, he enters into that reality, and becomes meek. All the powers of darkness will come against him, but they will do THE MIGHT OF MEEKNESS 117 him no hurt, and shall at last depart from him.

The meek man is found in the time of trial; when other men fall he stands. His patience is not destroyed by the foolish passions of others, and when they come against him he does not strive nor cry. He knows the utter powerlessness of all evil, having overcome it in himself; and lives in the changeless strength and power of divine Good.

Meekness is one aspect of the operation of the changeless Love that is at the Heart of all things, and is therefore an imperishable quality. He who lives in it is without fear, knowing the Highest and having the lowest under his feet.

The meek man shines in darkness, and flourishes in obscurity. Meekness cannot boast, nor advertise itself, nor thrive on popularity. It is practised, and being a spiritual quality it is perceived only by the eye of the spirit. Those who are not spiritually awakened see it not, nor do they love it, being enamored of and blinded by / 118 THE HEAVENLY LIFE worldly shows and appearances.

Nor does history take note of the meek man. Its glory is that of strife and self-aggrandisement; his is the glory of peace and gentleness. History chronicles the earthly, not the heavenly acts. Yet though he lives in ob- scurity he cannot be hidden— for how can light be hid ?; he continues to shine after he has withdrawn himself from the world, and is worshipped by the world that knew him not.