January 23, 2025 • 12 mins
The Power of Meekness: Redefining Strength through Humility
Is meekness a weakness or a kind of superpower? Join the Good News team, Lynn Shematek, Lauren Welch, and Jon Shematek, as they delve into the third Beatitude, 'Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.' The discussion redefines meekness, not as passivity or weakness but as a form of self-awareness and humility. The team explores how true meekness involves recognizing one's strengths and weaknesses and seeking God's help. They also ponder what inheriting the earth means in a modern context. This insightful conversation offers a new perspective on meekness, linking it to inner strength and the power to bring about peace and harmony.
00:00 Introduction: Is Meekness a Weakness?
00:29 Defining Meekness: Perspectives and Misconceptions
01:45 Jesus' Example of Meekness
03:19 Humility vs. Meekness
05:27 Inheriting the Earth: What Does It Mean?
08:34 Self-Awareness and Meekness
09:51 Comfort in Meekness
11:11 Conclusion and Reflection
12:01 Closing Remarks and Credits
Visit us at our website at https://listeningforclues.com/
© 2025 Listening for Clues
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dolores (00:00):
Is meekness a weakness?
(00:02):
Or could it be a kind of super-power?
Jesus said something about this in hisbeatitudes, which some say provide a
blueprint for living the Christian life.
So let's join a conversation withour Good News team Lynn Shematek,
Lauren Welch and Jon Shematek.
Jon (00:16):
Our Beatitude for today is the third one on the list, Blessed are
the meek, they shall inherit the earth.
I'm so eager to hear what youtwo have to say about meek.
And what, what does meek mean to you?
Lauren Welch (00:32):
When I hear the word meek for most of my life, what I
thought was someone who was weak,someone who more like a doormat
allowed people to run over them.
I didn't think of meekas being anything good.
(00:54):
Oh, that's the first thingthat comes to mind for me.
Jon (00:58):
Lynn, how about you when you hear the word meek, is that what you think
of, or do you have something else?
Lynn (01:04):
More meek and mild.
Someone that's just thingsaren't bothering them.
They just let it go and don't say much.
I guess maybe a doormat.
Maybe something, someone that justis there but not really present.
What about you?
......Jon: my initial reaction sounds just like the two of you.
I think of of somebody that'sI think someone is meek.
(01:26):
I think that they're passive.
They're very they don'twant to be noticed.
They're fearful in a way.
And yeah.
Weak and passive.
That's what comes to mind.
So that can't be what Jesus meant.
Can it?
Lauren Welch (01:43):
I don't think so.
I think Jesus was meek and he wascalling his disciples to, to be meek,
which is to, I believe, to be consciousof their strengths, of their weaknesses,
and to know that they can with God'shelp do what they're being called to do.
(02:06):
Jesus certainly lived his lifefollowing his call knowing his
strength where he needed help.
He called 12 people and then 72 tohelp with this mission because he
knew he couldn't do it all by himself.
He needed more people to to work with him.
(02:30):
And so I think it's in knowing andknowing yourself, knowing your strength.
And it's being I think the word thatwe use today that best describes what I
believe meek is humility, is not puttingyour ego forth, but allowing the spirit
(02:54):
to speak through you and in everythingyou do if you can do that, which is hard.
I don't think we do it all the time.
Jon (03:05):
I think it is hard.
I think it's very hard.
What's that country western song?
It's hard to be humble When you looklike me because i'm so handsome.
Yeah all that
Lauren Welch (03:16):
right,
Jon (03:17):
so would you agree that?
Meek tends to have, for many people,many of us, myself included, a
negative connotation, but maybehumility is not quite so negative.
Lynn (03:29):
Yeah, I think that we do like the humility, humble, the
humble giant, the, person that is.
capable of, tearing you apart,and he turns out to be the hero of
the story, and that he's so good.
So yeah, I think that humble or humilityis a better way to say than meek.
Jon (03:51):
And I really like that kind of ties in very much to what Lauren
said that I really was you said thatsomeone who is meek or humble is aware
of their strength, which is true.
And I think they are aware of the gooduse they can put their strength to.
It's like the humble giant.
This is a, there's someone,there's a sweetness there.
(04:14):
There's strength.
that could be destructive, physicalstrength, but strength, there's
a more like an inner strengththat is, is more about not being
destructive, but being constructive.
Now, I, and I thought Lauren, itwas interesting when you're talking
about Jesus saying he, his meeknesswas recognizing his strength.
(04:35):
And I also liked, cause I thought,Oh, what you going to say about
Jesus recognizing his weakness?
You didn't say that you said herecognized when he needed help, he
recognized that he needed others.
And maybe that's for us.
What meekness is recognizing.
(04:56):
Being humble enough to know what ourstrength and power is and being humble
enough to know where we need help, wherewe need God, where we need other people.
We can't do anything alone.
The three of us can'tdo this podcast alone.
We need help.
(05:16):
We need God to guide usthrough some of this.
And we need each other toto offer advice and counsel.
And content.
Yeah.
Lynn (05:27):
I think it's interesting in this, is that they get to inherit the earth.
The meek shall inherit the earth.
Now, if you believe in the secondcoming and all of this, Isn't
the earth going to be dissolvingor, earth is quite transitory.
Jon (05:49):
Yeah.
So what what do you think that could meanthat they're going to inherit the earth?
That's great because we haven't lookednecessarily at the other half of these
Beatitudes all the time and to say,for they shall inherit the earth.
What does that actually mean?
Is that something that sounds positive?
(06:10):
Yeah,
Lynn (06:12):
what I imagine probably would sound positive, let's say, to someone that has
not had a very good life on this earth.
Jon (06:20):
That's a question that comes out of this is what could that mean?
And certainly the literal earth.
I really wonder about, it'sless attractive today than ever.
So it's who wants to inherit this mess ofthe climate change and the pollution and
all the wars and insurrections and floodsand turmoil and all the apocalyptic kind
(06:43):
of stuff that was in the Bible happening.
So it, it must mean something else, right?
Lauren Welch (06:52):
Might it mean that people who have humility?
can bring people together, can helpbring peace among among people who
are not at peace, bring harmony.
Jon (07:06):
So inherit the earth, but a different kind of earth than we have today.
Because if let's say everyone were meek,what a different world that would be,
and it would be a world worth inheriting.
Maybe that's what it means.
And Lauren, you mentioned some episodesin Jesus life where he was meek.
(07:27):
And what, are there othersthat come to mind for anybody?
Lauren Welch (07:32):
The one that stands out for me with Jesus is him before Pilate.
Jesus knowing what was going to happen.
He didn't debate Pilate.
He stood silent before him.
He allowed Pilate to tell him who he was,and he said, yeah you said it, not me.
(07:55):
So he knew who he was, he knewwho he was in God, and that's the
only thing that was important.
And what Pilate or the other peoplewere going to do and say he, he
left the consequences of that.
In God's hands, or in thepeople's hands that we're going
(08:17):
to do it, but in God's hands
Jon (08:19):
yeah.
And , in thinking about it when youdescribed and brought back to mind
Jesus standing before Pilate I thoughtwhat was exquisitely true of him?
I think he was.
The example of someone who is self aware.
I think that this whatmeekness means, it could mean.
(08:41):
Someone who is meek isextremely self aware.
They are aware of their strengths.
They are aware of the areas in their liveswhere they need some help or improvement.
And so maybe if we were rewriting thisBeatitude today, we'd say, Blessed
are the self aware, for they knowtheir strengths and use it well.
They know their weaknesses andask for help when necessary.
(09:02):
I like thinking of it that way.
It gives a whole differentdimension to meek.
It's so much more it's not justwordsmithing it to make it sound positive.
That must have been, something likethat must have been Jesus intent.
. Lauren Welch (09:16):
Think it's really difficult to become, Self aware or
conscious of our motives of our of whatis going on inside of us all the time.
I think it's very difficult to becomeself aware to to look at ourselves
and see ourselves as we are, both ourtrue selves and our shadow selves.
Lynn (09:39):
And Lauren, what do you mean by a shadow selF?
Lauren Welch (09:42):
the false self the self that we don't wanna look at, the
things that I'm ashamed of those that'sthe, for me, that's the shadow side.
Lynn (09:51):
I also think that the thing that Jesus was trying to do with these
Beatitudes is to, not only to givethem a blueprint of how to become
Christians and how to live theirlives, but also that, that if you
do this, it gives you great comfort.
(10:14):
The meek will inherit land.
They'll become important, I think.
And so it's in each of the onesit has been something that, that
Gives you great comfort too.
That's one of the things that I thinkthat for me has been so difficult is with
(10:34):
so many times you say, Oh, Jesus says,pick up your, you don't pick up your
cross and carry it or things like that.
And it I don't want to do that.
I want to have a nice, comfortable life.
But these are different.
They give you comfort.
Each thing gives you comfort.
And you realize, if you do,if you are doing good things,
(10:57):
it does give you comfort.
If you are being meek and youare being these other attributes,
it does give you comfort.
So it's in this life, and you don'thave to wait for the next life.
I
Jon (11:11):
What I'd like to do is ask our viewers and listeners to consider
what does meekness mean to you?
What does it mean to be meek?
Does it mean Something negative, or canit mean something like self awareness?
And also, secondly, to think ofexamples either in the Bible, in
(11:33):
Jesus life, or other other personsin the Bible, or in your own life in
particular, of someone you know, oryou yourself, if you've had moments
of humility, what that has been like.
. So that wraps up the beatitudeabout being meek and We're so
grateful that you're with us today.
(11:53):
Thanks very much for being here
Lynn (11:56):
Thank you, everyone.
Take care.
Lauren Welch (11:59):
Blessings and peace until we meet again.
..............Dolores: This episode on the Beatitudes has been brought
to you by listening for clues.
You can find us at ourwebsite listeningforclues.com,
on our YouTube channel or on justabout any audio podcast channel.
hope to see you soon.
Is meekness a weakness?
(00:02):
Or could it be a kind of super-power?
Jesus said something about this in hisbeatitudes, which some say provide a
blueprint for living the Christian life.
So let's join a conversation withour Good News team Lynn Shematek,
Lauren Welch and Jon Shematek.
Jon (00:16):
Our Beatitude for today is the third one on the list, Blessed are
the meek, they shall inherit the earth.
I'm so eager to hear what youtwo have to say about meek.
And what, what does meek mean to you?
Lauren Welch (00:32):
When I hear the word meek for most of my life, what I
thought was someone who was weak,someone who more like a doormat
allowed people to run over them.
I didn't think of meekas being anything good.
(00:54):
Oh, that's the first thingthat comes to mind for me.
Jon (00:58):
Lynn, how about you when you hear the word meek, is that what you think
of, or do you have something else?
Lynn (01:04):
More meek and mild.
Someone that's just thingsaren't bothering them.
They just let it go and don't say much.
I guess maybe a doormat.
Maybe something, someone that justis there but not really present.
What about you?
......Jon: my initial reaction sounds just like the two of you.
I think of of somebody that'sI think someone is meek.
(01:26):
I think that they're passive.
They're very they don'twant to be noticed.
They're fearful in a way.
And yeah.
Weak and passive.
That's what comes to mind.
So that can't be what Jesus meant.
Can it?
Lauren Welch (01:43):
I don't think so.
I think Jesus was meek and he wascalling his disciples to, to be meek,
which is to, I believe, to be consciousof their strengths, of their weaknesses,
and to know that they can with God'shelp do what they're being called to do.
(02:06):
Jesus certainly lived his lifefollowing his call knowing his
strength where he needed help.
He called 12 people and then 72 tohelp with this mission because he
knew he couldn't do it all by himself.
He needed more people to to work with him.
(02:30):
And so I think it's in knowing andknowing yourself, knowing your strength.
And it's being I think the word thatwe use today that best describes what I
believe meek is humility, is not puttingyour ego forth, but allowing the spirit
(02:54):
to speak through you and in everythingyou do if you can do that, which is hard.
I don't think we do it all the time.
Jon (03:05):
I think it is hard.
I think it's very hard.
What's that country western song?
It's hard to be humble When you looklike me because i'm so handsome.
Yeah all that
Lauren Welch (03:16):
right,
Jon (03:17):
so would you agree that?
Meek tends to have, for many people,many of us, myself included, a
negative connotation, but maybehumility is not quite so negative.
Lynn (03:29):
Yeah, I think that we do like the humility, humble, the
humble giant, the, person that is.
capable of, tearing you apart,and he turns out to be the hero of
the story, and that he's so good.
So yeah, I think that humble or humilityis a better way to say than meek.
Jon (03:51):
And I really like that kind of ties in very much to what Lauren
said that I really was you said thatsomeone who is meek or humble is aware
of their strength, which is true.
And I think they are aware of the gooduse they can put their strength to.
It's like the humble giant.
This is a, there's someone,there's a sweetness there.
(04:14):
There's strength.
that could be destructive, physicalstrength, but strength, there's
a more like an inner strengththat is, is more about not being
destructive, but being constructive.
Now, I, and I thought Lauren, itwas interesting when you're talking
about Jesus saying he, his meeknesswas recognizing his strength.
(04:35):
And I also liked, cause I thought,Oh, what you going to say about
Jesus recognizing his weakness?
You didn't say that you said herecognized when he needed help, he
recognized that he needed others.
And maybe that's for us.
What meekness is recognizing.
(04:56):
Being humble enough to know what ourstrength and power is and being humble
enough to know where we need help, wherewe need God, where we need other people.
We can't do anything alone.
The three of us can'tdo this podcast alone.
We need help.
(05:16):
We need God to guide usthrough some of this.
And we need each other toto offer advice and counsel.
And content.
Yeah.
Lynn (05:27):
I think it's interesting in this, is that they get to inherit the earth.
The meek shall inherit the earth.
Now, if you believe in the secondcoming and all of this, Isn't
the earth going to be dissolvingor, earth is quite transitory.
Jon (05:49):
Yeah.
So what what do you think that could meanthat they're going to inherit the earth?
That's great because we haven't lookednecessarily at the other half of these
Beatitudes all the time and to say,for they shall inherit the earth.
What does that actually mean?
Is that something that sounds positive?
(06:10):
Yeah,
Lynn (06:12):
what I imagine probably would sound positive, let's say, to someone that has
not had a very good life on this earth.
Jon (06:20):
That's a question that comes out of this is what could that mean?
And certainly the literal earth.
I really wonder about, it'sless attractive today than ever.
So it's who wants to inherit this mess ofthe climate change and the pollution and
all the wars and insurrections and floodsand turmoil and all the apocalyptic kind
(06:43):
of stuff that was in the Bible happening.
So it, it must mean something else, right?
Lauren Welch (06:52):
Might it mean that people who have humility?
can bring people together, can helpbring peace among among people who
are not at peace, bring harmony.
Jon (07:06):
So inherit the earth, but a different kind of earth than we have today.
Because if let's say everyone were meek,what a different world that would be,
and it would be a world worth inheriting.
Maybe that's what it means.
And Lauren, you mentioned some episodesin Jesus life where he was meek.
(07:27):
And what, are there othersthat come to mind for anybody?
Lauren Welch (07:32):
The one that stands out for me with Jesus is him before Pilate.
Jesus knowing what was going to happen.
He didn't debate Pilate.
He stood silent before him.
He allowed Pilate to tell him who he was,and he said, yeah you said it, not me.
(07:55):
So he knew who he was, he knewwho he was in God, and that's the
only thing that was important.
And what Pilate or the other peoplewere going to do and say he, he
left the consequences of that.
In God's hands, or in thepeople's hands that we're going
(08:17):
to do it, but in God's hands
Jon (08:19):
yeah.
And , in thinking about it when youdescribed and brought back to mind
Jesus standing before Pilate I thoughtwhat was exquisitely true of him?
I think he was.
The example of someone who is self aware.
I think that this whatmeekness means, it could mean.
(08:41):
Someone who is meek isextremely self aware.
They are aware of their strengths.
They are aware of the areas in their liveswhere they need some help or improvement.
And so maybe if we were rewriting thisBeatitude today, we'd say, Blessed
are the self aware, for they knowtheir strengths and use it well.
They know their weaknesses andask for help when necessary.
(09:02):
I like thinking of it that way.
It gives a whole differentdimension to meek.
It's so much more it's not justwordsmithing it to make it sound positive.
That must have been, something likethat must have been Jesus intent.
. Lauren Welch (09:16):
Think it's really difficult to become, Self aware or
conscious of our motives of our of whatis going on inside of us all the time.
I think it's very difficult to becomeself aware to to look at ourselves
and see ourselves as we are, both ourtrue selves and our shadow selves.
Lynn (09:39):
And Lauren, what do you mean by a shadow selF?
Lauren Welch (09:42):
the false self the self that we don't wanna look at, the
things that I'm ashamed of those that'sthe, for me, that's the shadow side.
Lynn (09:51):
I also think that the thing that Jesus was trying to do with these
Beatitudes is to, not only to givethem a blueprint of how to become
Christians and how to live theirlives, but also that, that if you
do this, it gives you great comfort.
(10:14):
The meek will inherit land.
They'll become important, I think.
And so it's in each of the onesit has been something that, that
Gives you great comfort too.
That's one of the things that I thinkthat for me has been so difficult is with
(10:34):
so many times you say, Oh, Jesus says,pick up your, you don't pick up your
cross and carry it or things like that.
And it I don't want to do that.
I want to have a nice, comfortable life.
But these are different.
They give you comfort.
Each thing gives you comfort.
And you realize, if you do,if you are doing good things,
(10:57):
it does give you comfort.
If you are being meek and youare being these other attributes,
it does give you comfort.
So it's in this life, and you don'thave to wait for the next life.
I
Jon (11:11):
What I'd like to do is ask our viewers and listeners to consider
what does meekness mean to you?
What does it mean to be meek?
Does it mean Something negative, or canit mean something like self awareness?
And also, secondly, to think ofexamples either in the Bible, in
(11:33):
Jesus life, or other other personsin the Bible, or in your own life in
particular, of someone you know, oryou yourself, if you've had moments
of humility, what that has been like.
. So that wraps up the beatitudeabout being meek and We're so
grateful that you're with us today.
(11:53):
Thanks very much for being here
Lynn (11:56):
Thank you, everyone.
Take care.
Lauren Welch (11:59):
Blessings and peace until we meet again.
..............Dolores: This episode on the Beatitudes has been brought
to you by listening for clues.
You can find us at ourwebsite listeningforclues.com,
on our YouTube channel or on justabout any audio podcast channel.
hope to see you soon.
Popular Podcasts
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.