to love thine enemies.

so i've been having a difficult time at work lately because of a broken relationship with an individual who has made it his mission to intentionally, vindictively, and publicly insult me. honestly, i've never had to deal with someone who i've felt hated me, and i'm quite conflicted as to how to handle my situation.

as a christian, i have long listened to the words of Jesus, from his sermon on the mount, when he taught us that we should love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. this must be one of the most difficult things to do, christian or not. to love someone who despises you goes against every human inclination and social norm. we feel justified in snubbing those who disrespect us, and yet our Savior's words remain: love them.

why is loving ones enemies so terribly, terribly difficult? oh, to be a peacemaker! i have desired so deeply to love my colleague in spite of this breach of relationship, but i don't. i feel i can't. Lord, give me strength.

archbishop emmanuel kolini once told me a story about how the people of rwanda were learning to forgive and love one another through the horrible atrocities perpetrated and received. clearly, their struggles have been severe, making reconciliation seemingly impossible. yet somehow i can't find the strength to love someone who is giving me a hard time at work.

similarly, my friend ziya meral, a turk i met in toronto last year, has made it his aim to work to reconcile his people with the people of armenia, despite the near century-long discord between the two countries (if you're not familiar with the turkey-armenia struggle, congress just passed a bill officially calling the acts that turkey perpetrated against armenia in world war I 'genocide'. turkey's position remains genocide denial, despite overwhelming evidence of forced relocation and mass murder.) ziya first took up this cross after traveling to armenia for the first time a few years back with an old friend. they were received so hospitably, and loved so deeply that it broke his heart and changed him. not surprisingly, ziya is a muslim turned christian. as a result, he has been shunned from his own family. ziya is a beautiful and brilliant man, and i am very proud to know him. you can read his blog here.

i found a sermon by martin luther king, jr., a few days ago entitled 'loving your enemies.' it was delivered at dexter avenue baptist church in montgomery, alabama, on novermber 17, 1957. i'll leave you with an excerpt from the address here:

Within the best of us, there is some evil, and within the worst of us, there is some good. When we come to see this, we take a different attitude toward individuals. The person who hates you most has some good in him; even the nation that hates you most has some good in it; even the race that hates you most has some good in it. And when you come to the point that you look in the face of every man and see deep down within him what religion calls "the image of God," you begin to love him in spite of the evil. No matter what he does, you see God's image there. There is an element of goodness that he can never sluff off. Discover the element of good in your enemy. And as you seek to hate him, find the center of goodness and place your attention there and you will take a new attitude...

...so this morning, as I look into your eyes, and into the eyes of all of my brothers in Alabama and all over America and over the world, I say to you, "I love you. I would rather die than hate you." And I'm foolish enough to believe that through the power of this love somewhere, men of the most recalcitrant bent will be transformed. And then we will be in God's kingdom.