Love Your Enemies

One of my favorite things to do is to sit outside in the mornings when the weather is right and drink my coffee and read and be mindful of everything around me. It is the time of day that I feel closest to God. I am able to be alone (usually) because the kids are still in bed and Big J is either at work or inside doing something. I enjoy things I used to ignore because I was so busy : the sound of the birds in the trees, a dog playing in a nearby yard, the slant of the sun as it moves over my neighbor's roof, the dew before it dries off the grass. I make time to notice these things for the wonders they are. I also like to use this time to do my lectionary readings.

This morning I was catching up on a few readings from this past week. I read what I think is probably one of my favorite parts of the Bible because it pretty much sums up what I think is the point of it all. Luke 6:27-36. This is the part where Jesus talks about loving your enemies. It includes the Golden Rule: "Do to others as you would have them do to you." Luke 6:31 (NIV). It goes on to say that "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?" Luke 6:32 (NIV). In other words, it is easy to love those who love you, those who agree with you. Where is the challenge there? The real challenge is in loving those who do not love you or agree with you. Our world would be a much better place if more people took this particular passage more seriously. It seems like lately everyone (even supposedly religious, Godly people) are all about finding reasons to divide from other people. They want to turn away from those who are different from themselves. What we really need is for people to do what Jesus said and not turn away from those with whom we disagree but turn toward them. Show them love and compassion. We should "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." Luke 6:36 (NIV).

What a wonderful world that would be! One might call it a Kingdom of God!