For They Shall Inherit

In an earlier essay (Credo), I indulged myself in a rant about the "Apostles' Creed" that is recited regularly in many churches, including the United Methodist church where I am a member and sing in the choir. Why, I asked, do we spend so much time and energy repeating the superstitions of Christianity, such as the "Virgin Birth"? In the New Testament, we have a significant body of teaching attributed to Jesus of Nazareth, lessons that point us to a more ethical, rational, meaningful life, without asking us to believe in fables. One such teaching is recorded in Mathew 5:5 - "Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth." It seems to me that regular recitation of these teachings would be much more beneficial to our daily lives than mouthing the Creed.


20161215_FromTheStrong (4K)

Each of us probably has someone that they always think of when they hear the statement "Blessed are the gentle". For me it is Peggy Robinson Draper, my maternal aunt, role model, and dear friend. More than anyone I have ever known, Peggy personified gentleness through strength. She confronted medical disaster and marital crisis without flinching, and without ever losing her sense of humor. She was a true progressive living her entire life in a very reactionary part of the world. She never hesitated to speak her mind, but always with a sweet "southern lady" smile that disarmed the most implacable bigot. She was one of those rare individuals that seemed to be more highly evolved than the rest of us. In an earlier age she would have been called a saint - or maybe a witch, depending on who she had last crossed paths with. For her seventeen nieces and nephews, though, the phrase "Aunt Peggy" still, more than three decades after her death, evokes a sense of warm, loving acceptance. She knew we were imperfect, and she had an uncomfortably clear idea of the nature of our imperfections; but she truly loved us, warts and all.

Did Peggy "inherit the earth" as a result of her gentleness? In one sense, the answer to that question would have to be a resounding "No!". She never had much money, and lived almost exclusively in rented apartments, or in her parents' home. She married quite late, and divorced her husband after only a few years of marriage because of his addiction to alcohol. Her life ended prematurely and painfully due to cancer run amok in her body. You would not say that life rewarded Peggy in any material meaning of the term.


20161215_WaterDrop (35K)

One possession she did have, though, was influence, in great abundance. Time spent in conversation with Peggy made you a better person. You were wiser, calmer, less fearful, and more tolerant - just from being in her presence. I devoutly hope that Peggy was aware of the power she had to heal, and that she understood how much good she was doing just by being there in times of grief, sickness, or anger. I have to believe that, at the end of her life, she knew she was leaving behind seventeen younger relatives who were better citizens of the world because she had passed their way. That's an "inheritance" that we can all covet.


Honor The Gentle Among You

By Thomas R. Borden
Honor the gentle among you,
Sing loudly the songs of their worth.
Honor the gentle among you,
For they shall inherit (with no legal merit),
For they shall inherit the earth.

Gentleness knows no dominions,
No armies, no factions, no creeds.
Gentleness lives in its own space,
And looks to its neighbor's needs.

Gentleness speaks no commandments,
It has only two simple laws:
Do unto others as you would have done, 
Remember - we each have our flaws.

Honor the gentle among you,
Celebrate the day of their birth.
Honor the gentle among you,
For they shall inherit (with no legal merit),
For they shall inherit the earth.


Requiem in pacem,  Peggy. 
Amen and Amen.

Thomas R. Borden 
Waugh, Alabama 
December 20, 2016

Comments or questions? Send us an email.