“Turning the other cheek means showing our enemies that they can only be our enemies while supposing that we are anxiously clinging to our private property, whatever it is: our knowledge, our good name, our land, our money, or the many objects we have collected around us. But who will be our robber when everything he wants to steal from us becomes our gift to him?”
― Henri Nouwen
What have you let go of in order to stay in good relation with someone?
“Turn the other cheek”is a Biblical reference which is frequently used to mean that you should allow others to hit you, to accept unacceptable behavior.
Let’s put it into a better reference, an historical reference that gives it a stronger, more worthwhile meaning.
In the time of Jesus, the Romans of course were ruling. Their rules were written such that if you were a slave owner, or dealing with a non-citizen, you did not hit them with the flat of your hand, palm first. You hit them with the back of your hand. Slapping someone with your open hand, palm against their cheek, was reserved for your (social) equals. With me so far?
When Jesus said to turn the other cheek, he meant to present your face in such a way as to claim social equality, parity with, the person who was hitting you. In other words, to be a fully acclaimed citizen and not of a lower class.
So it’s not so much about taking whatever abuse someone wants to put on you. I don’t think Jesus was into making masochists and weaklings out of his followers, people who could not stand up to Earthly authority and demand, by their actions, to be accepted as valid human beings, equal citizens with their fellow beings in society.
Puts a slightly different spin on that phrase. Turning the other cheek means showing our enemies that we are as worthy as they, that to rob or hurt us is not a meaningless action of humiliating a “mere” slave, someone who is not even “human”. It reminds them that we hold as much worth as they do–and we choose not to take from others just because we could, or because we might perceive ourselves as being somehow superior and entitled to take whatever we want from those who are inferior in our eyes.
We can still then give them the things they are trying to steal, which negates the stealing–but by the act of claiming an equal position, it truly becomes a gift from a fellow being, not the plundering of “non-people” who don’t deserve to have (whatever) anyways. Make sense?
Still a really great lesson, made even more powerful by the idea that we are all sacred beings–our choices are what either helps us move towards doing more and more sacred things or moves us away from the whole interconnectedness of the world and Universe. By claiming equality with those would would rob, and then choosing to give them the things they seek of our own free will, we help them remain on a sacred path, perhaps even cause a change in their heart that opens them to being more sacred in their choices.
Namaste!