Article August 8, 1908 Issue

WHO ARE THE MEEK?

LEWIS C. STRANG.

Men need to be saved now. Men want to be saved now. Things done by men in generations past and gone show humanity's continuous struggle for a present salvation. Yesterday and to-day, to seek and to find peace, joy, safety now, has been the master motive of human effort.

Jesus' works saved in the now. It was inevitable that he should have been followed by a great multitude—a mighty cosmopolis "from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from beyond Jordan," Jew and Gentile, worshipers of one God, of many and of none, those trained in the dogmatic lore of the rabbi, in the pure philosophy of the Greek, in the degenerating materialism of the Roman, and those ignorant of all save their heart's desire,—a great multitude, united only by the universal human yearning for quick help and a present salvation. These were themselves a prayer, the answer to which was the Beatitudes. An impressive scene, without question. A vast assembly, and a stillness tense with earnestness and vivid with longing. Nature's setting was the serene blue of the sky and the full radiance of a cloudless sun, shining on the surrounding hills and perhaps reflected in the dancing waves of the Galilean Sea.

The people had gathered because of what Jesus had done. Whatever his words might be, he had already justified them with works. He had forced acknowledgment of his authority. Yet it is not unlikely that the first beatitude was a disappointment. "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for their's is the kingdom of heaven." It is hardly possible that it was understood. Those people wanted to be saved now. The kingdom of heaven meant to them a hereafter. It was too far away, according to their sense of things, and they had no one to tell them of the ever-present heaven of scientifically harmonious minds and bodies. The sweet benediction of the second beatitude, "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted," doubtless found grateful lodgment in many a grief-stricken breast, the tender love of the Master turning at that moment sorrow into joy and despair into hope and courage.

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