My high school nemesis was Cindy Wilson (okay that is not her name at all, but just humor me.). Cindy would say things to me like, “What State School are you going to again?” She was, of course, headed to the Ivy League. I don’t know why we were in competition, or why she wanted to reinforce that I was losing to her, but did I delight when I got a better role in the musical, yup! Did it make me so jealous that she worked for Hilary Clinton and did I tell tons of people from my high school about how I wrote in a piece the devotional book for Hilary in 2016 so I could even the score? yes!
A few years ago I was at a gala for some cause or another and it turned out that I was seated next to Cindy’s mom. I was kind and we told stories and all went well. My enmity was on hold for that night because no matter how petty I am when it comes to Cindy, I could be kind to her mama.
This is not exactly the high stakes of loving our enemies, but I think these moments happen more often than the ones where we have to deal with abusers or oppressors. When Jesus calls us to love our enemies, he invites us into a radical kind of love—one that breaks down walls of hatred, resentment, and fear. How do we live out that love in the small moments of live? In kindness, in setting aside our hurt, in having a more mature perspective? God’s love knows no limits and extends to all people, regardless of their actions or attitudes. It is a love that offers peace where there is conflict, hope where there is despair, and healing where there is brokenness.
Loving our enemies doesn’t mean we condone wrongdoing or ignore injustice. Rather, it means we choose to respond not with vengeance, but with compassion and forgiveness. It frees us from the chains of bitterness and allows us to be agents of peace in a world that so desperately needs it.
This love is liberating and it’s why we are focusing on this theme this week as we continue exploring life giving theology. Love that transforms us and makes our lives more whole and grace filled but is counter to the ways of the world merits out attention and practice.
-Eilidh
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