My mind was on Etty Hillesum this morning. Etty of the Holocaust whose last words in her diary as she went to the showers at Auschwitz were "We should be willing to act as a balm for all wounds."
I thought of her in my quiet time this morning as I prayed and meditated. Prayed and thanked God for blessing my various peeps. Then, without thinking, I said, "God bless America." The last time I said that without prompting was on September 11, 2001. Clearly, my thoughts for America are running a tish scared.
Then God gifted me with a teensy-tiny glimmer about the people I prayed for. He encouraged me to add the president's name. So I did...quick, fast and in a hurry...get it over with so to speak. God, knowing no limits, then suggested I include Putin. That I bless and love Vladimir Putin.
I cannot...or will not...say how long it took me to get over myself, my resistance, my anger at the very idea of blessing Vladimir Putin, much less extending love. And there it is.
How much time have I spent pondering and writing about how and why to love Gertrude, et al., when yet again in my mind I've been wronged? And finally releasing my resistance through God's loving kindness (and half the time giving myself points for that)?
The reasoning mind cannot accept that extending love to evil will not make evil stronger...it may be the only thing that weakens evil by strengthening good. Again: We must go beyond reason to love.
How many times do we forgive a wrong-doer? Seven times? No. Seventy times seven...by that time, it'll be our way of life and we'll quit counting and just forgive. This according to my interpretation of the Lord's command.
Thank you.
I thought of her in my quiet time this morning as I prayed and meditated. Prayed and thanked God for blessing my various peeps. Then, without thinking, I said, "God bless America." The last time I said that without prompting was on September 11, 2001. Clearly, my thoughts for America are running a tish scared.
Then God gifted me with a teensy-tiny glimmer about the people I prayed for. He encouraged me to add the president's name. So I did...quick, fast and in a hurry...get it over with so to speak. God, knowing no limits, then suggested I include Putin. That I bless and love Vladimir Putin.
I cannot...or will not...say how long it took me to get over myself, my resistance, my anger at the very idea of blessing Vladimir Putin, much less extending love. And there it is.
How much time have I spent pondering and writing about how and why to love Gertrude, et al., when yet again in my mind I've been wronged? And finally releasing my resistance through God's loving kindness (and half the time giving myself points for that)?
The reasoning mind cannot accept that extending love to evil will not make evil stronger...it may be the only thing that weakens evil by strengthening good. Again: We must go beyond reason to love.
How many times do we forgive a wrong-doer? Seven times? No. Seventy times seven...by that time, it'll be our way of life and we'll quit counting and just forgive. This according to my interpretation of the Lord's command.
Thank you.
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