It is one thing to theorise about the things I will do to cause no harm to my enemy, but quite another thing to treat my enemy with all the love and compassion and mercy with which I would like to be treated…
There are two types of people – I am told – people who see the glass half full, and people who see the glass half empty… Those who see the glass as half full are optimists, and those who see the glass as half empty are pessimists.
And though there is really nothing wrong with being an optimist or a pessimist, true Christians are ALWAYS optimists. Now, this is not to say that a true Christian cannot be pessimistic about things that happen in their life. This is not to say that true Christians cannot experience pessimism in some form. This is instead to say that true Christians will ALWAYS be able to see the other side of the Cross. For when we feel that we are hanging on the Cross, we must know that Christ is hanging on the other side of the same Cross and bearing our torture for us, though we believe and feel that we are completely alone and completely overwhelmed by the suffering that God allows us…
But there is more to Christian optimism than that. There is an optimistic interpretation – or a positive interpretation – to everything that exists. And We can see this in the words of Christ Himself…
“But I say to you that hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also... And as you wish that men would do to you, do so to them... Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you... For the measure you give will be the measure you get back.” (Luke 6:27-38).Here, Christ did not say, please do not be hateful to hateful people. Instead, He took things a step further, out of the negative (DO NOT) and into the positive (DO). Here, He says, do to others what you wish they would do to you. Now, that is a big positive statement. He is saying HELP others. He is saying, it is not enough to leave crochety people alone, He is saying, when people are crochety, think about how you would feel if you were them, and what might cheer you up and do that for them.
And that is hard to do in real life. Because that means that we will seek out people who are difficult and be actively kind and helpful to them for no reason other than it is what we would like someone to do to and for us…
And when I think about that today, I see myself as sorely lacking in love. For it is one thing to theorise about the things I will do to cause no harm to my enemy, but quite another thing to treat my enemy with all the love and compassion and mercy with which I would like to be treated. It is quite another thing altogether…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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