Meek like Ingelbert

My dog Ingelbert is a monster. He’s a Cane Corso Mastiff, which, for those of you who aren’t familiar with the breed, is a large and powerful dog. He weighs about 110 pounds, has a thin coat and skin so that his huge muscles show through even when he is just standing there. At one point we bought him one of those huge cow bones and after watching him crush it in a single bite, I did some googling and found that he can deliver 600 pounds per square inch of bite pressure. Needless to say, one would have to foolish to try and break into my house, but that is not the reason that I love my dog.

Ingelbert is the definition of meek. When he is around other dogs, no matter if they are large or small he lays over for them, careful not to intimidate. When my kids crawl all over him and play with the saggy skin on his face, he doesn’t bark or growl. He simply doesn’t feel the need to show anyone how tough he is. This isn’t to say that he abandons being tough. A short time ago I was tickling my little girl and she was screaming in delight and misinterpreting the event, Ingelbert grabbed my ankle, pulling me off of her. Ingelbert only uses his power for the benefit of others, which I think is a good model for meekness.

I am not typically meek. As the smallest kid in school until my sophomore year, I got in a lot of fights with bullies to show that I was just as tough as them. As an adult, my lack of meekness comes out another way. I am meek enough not to be cross with people or rude, but when someone is that way to me, I don’t want them to interpret my meekness for weakness, so I tend to lambast them to make sure that they know that I am not a man to be trifled with.

Jesus is the most powerful man in history. He can calm a storm, cast out demons with extreme prejudice and concur death itself. But in his life we don’t see him making sure that everyone knows how powerful he is unless it is for the benefit of others like when the temple was being defiled. When he was being beaten and whipped, he didn’t unleash the fury of heaven, he took it on the chin because it was the right thing to do. Jesus is meek and Ingelbert is like him in that way. I think I would do well to be more like Ingelbert. - Chris Ingersoll