Text of the meditation
The might of meekness! The person who conquers another by force is strong; the person who conquers themselves by Meekness is mighty. One who conquers another by force will likewise be conquered; one who conquers themselves by Meekness will never be overthrown, for the human cannot overcome the divine.
The meek person is triumphant in defeat. Socrates 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, but only what is unreal.
When a person finds that within them which is real, which is constant, abiding, changeless and eternal, they enter into that Reality, and become meek. All the powers of darkness will come against them, but they will do them no hurt, and will at last depart from them.
Meekness is a divine quality, and as such is all-powerful.
James Allen (1864–1912), Book of Meditations for Every Day in the Year (1913) – public-domain text, gently modernised.
The original 1913 text is in the public domain.
