Meek

"Blessed are the meek, for the shall inherit the earth." Matthew 5:5

The greek word for meek is praus. It's a happy medium between extreme anger and angerlessness. It refers to someone with exceptional self control... meaning they have the ability to be angry at the right time, and never angry at the wrong time. It also means having patience with the unloveable, misinformed, and lost... but a higher expectation with the ones who ought to know better. It also refers to someone with humility... the ability to put aside ego and pride and being teachable. Numbers 12:3 describes Moses as being the meek above all men. Way to go Moses.
I got angry last night. One of my co-workers at Whole Foods asked me if I was headed to the protests after work. "Protests?" I asked "What protests??" The LDS conference was in town, a huge gathering of all the LDS around the world come together for a multi-day conference. Those who cannot attend tune in via TV or radio. It's kind of a big deal. She informed me that the "christians"all gather and protest outside the conference center to protest the fact the mormon's call themselves christians. "Why would I go to something like that?" I asked. She responded with "Don't all you christians go to that kind of stuff?" This made me mad. She was under the impression that all christians do things like this. We condemn, protest, and judge. I quickly pulled her aside and explained that I was in fact what most people refer to as a christian... but one who makes every effort to follow Christ and His teachings... and His teachings were not to condemn, protest, and judge... rather to love, sympathize, and forgive. I had to apologize to her on behalf of christians. How is it that so many christians have somehow overlooked Matthew 6:14 "... if you refuse to forgive others, your father will not forgive your sins." Yikes! Quite possibly the scariest verse in the Bible. This just in folks, it's not our job to judge!
No, I'm nowhere near perfect. I screw up everyday.
Yeah, I got angry. I hope I was being meek and doing it at the right time.
What a shame, though, that I was angry at christians.