Loving Enemies in Light of God's Love

Augustine seems to be thinking mainly of non-Christian enemies here so not everything he says at the end will apply perfectly to every Christian. But I like what he's saying (obviously).

“So what in comparison ought we, in the fellowship of the love of God, to be doing, seeing that enjoying him means living in bliss, and that from him all those who love him derive both their very existence and their love for him, and that about him it is impossible to fear that anyone who knows him should dislike him (italics mine), and that it is his will that he should be loved, not to gain anything for himself, but in order to confer on those who love him an eternal reward, which is in fact himself, the very one they love? The consequence of this is that we should love our enemies (italics mine); after all, we have nothing to fear from them, because they cannot possibly deprive us of what we love; instead we feel sorry for them, because the more they hate us, the more it shows how far they are cut off from the one whom we love. If, however, they are converted and turn back to him, they must needs love both him as their bliss-conferring good, and us as their companions in enjoying such an unimaginable good.”

            --St. Augustine, De Doctrina Christiana

Nothing Else Will Do

My brother, Matt, shared this with me today. I've already put one passage from George MacDonald on this blog. He was apparently a very sharp guy. C.S. Lewis called him his "master." I love people like MacDonald (and Lewis) whose brilliance does not overshadow their passion for Christ. When you read a poem like this, you know the writer has gotten ahold of the real thing.

The worst power of an evil mood is this—

It makes the bastard self seem in the right,

Self, self the end, the goal of human bliss.

But if the Christ-self in us be the might

Of saving God, why should I spend my force

With a dark thing to reason of the light—

Not push it rough aside, and hold obedient course?

Back still it comes to this: there was a man

Who said, “I am the truth, the life, the way”—

Shall I pass on, or shall I stop and hear?

“Come to the Father but by me none can”:

What then is this?  Am I not also one

Of those who live in fatherless dismay?

I stand, I look, I listen, I draw near.

My Lord I find that nothing else will do,

But follow where thou goest, sit at thy feet,

And where I have thee not, still run to meet.

Roses are scentless, hopeless are the morns,

Rest is but weakness, laughter crackling thorns,

If thou, the Truth, do not make them true:

Thou art my life, O Christ, and nothing else will do.

--George MacDonald

Praying for Enemies

If you wish to learn the love of God, you have to begin by praying for your enemies. That's not as easy as it may sound. Prayers for people entail wanting the best for them; and that's far from easy if it has to do with a fellow student who speaks ill of you, a girl who finds someone else more attractive than you, a 'friend' who gets you to do all those awkward little chores for him, or a colleague who's trying his best to get your job. But each time you pray, really pray, for your enemies, you'll notice that your heart is being made new. Within your prayer, you quickly discover that your enemies are in fact your fellow human beings loved by God just as much as yourself. The result is that the walls you've thrown up between 'him and me,' 'us and them,' 'ours and theirs' disappear. Your heart grows deeper and broader and opens up more and more to all the human beings with whom God has peopled the earth.

I find it difficult to conceive of a more concrete way to love than by praying for one's enemies. It makes you conscious of the hard fact that, in God's eyes, you're no more and no less worthy of being loved than any other person, and it creates an awareness of profound solidarity with all other human beings. It creates in you a world-embracing compassion and provides you in increasing measure with a heart free of the compulsive urge to coercion and violence. And you'll be delighted to discover that you can no longer remain angry with people for whom you've really and truly prayed. You will find that you start speaking differently to them and about them, and that you're actually willing to do well to those who've offended you in some way.

--Henri Nouwen, Letters to Marc about Jesus in The Only Necessary Thing

Bless My Enemies, O Lord

Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.
Enemies have driven me into your embrace more than friends have.
Friends have bound me to earth, enemies have loosed me from earth and have demolished all my aspirations in the world.
Enemies have made me a stranger in worldly realms and an extraneous inhabitant of the world. Just as a hunted animal finds safer shelter than an unhunted animal does, so have I, persecuted by enemies, found the safest sanctuary, having ensconced myself beneath your tabernacle, where neither friends nor enemies can slay my soul.
Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.

They, rather than I, have confessed my sins before the world.
They have punished me, whenever I have hesitated to punish myself.
They have tormented me, whenever I have tried to flee torments.
They have scolded me, whenever I have flattered myself.
They have spat upon me, whenever I have filled myself with arrogance.
Bless my enemies, O Lord, Even I bless them and do not curse them.

Whenever I have made myself wise, they have called me foolish.
Whenever I have made myself mighty, they have mocked me as though I were a dwarf.
Whenever I have wanted to lead people, they have shoved me into the background.
Whenever I have rushed to enrich myself, they have prevented me with an iron hand.
Whenever I thought that I would sleep peacefully, they have wakened me from sleep.
Whenever I have tried to build a home for a long and tranquil life, they have demolished it and driven me out.
Truly, enemies have cut me loose from the world and have stretched out my hands to the hem of your garment.
Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.

Bless them and multiply them; multiply them and make them even more bitterly against me:
so that my fleeing to You may have no return;
so that all hope in men may be scattered like cobwebs;
so that absolute serenity may begin to reign in my soul;
so that my heart may become the grave of my two evil twins, arrogance and anger;
so that I might amass all my treasure in heaven;
ah, so that I may for once be freed from self-deception, which has entangled me in the dreadful web of illusory life.
Enemies have taught me to know what hardly anyone knows, that a person has no enemies in the world except himself.
One hates his enemies only when he fails to realize that they are not enemies, but cruel friends.
It is truly difficult for me to say who has done me more good and who has done me more evil in the world: friends or enemies.

Therefore bless, O Lord, both my friends and enemies.
A slave curses enemies, for he does not understand. But a son blesses them, for he understands.
For a son knows that his enemies cannot touch his life.
Therefore he freely steps among them and prays to God for them.

--Nikolai Velimirovich

Distracted Prayers

Why should I spend an hour in prayer when I do nothing during that time but think about people I am angry with, people who are angry with me, books I should read and books I should write, and thousands of other silly things that happen to grab my mind for a moment? The answer is because God is greater than my mind and my heart, and what is really happening in the house of prayer is not measurable in terms of human success and failure.

What I must do first of all is be faithful. If I believe that the first commandment is to love God with my whole heart, mind, and soul, then I should at least be able to spend one hour a day with nobody else but God. The question as to whether it is helpful, useful, practical, or fruitful is completely irrelevant, since the only reason to love is love itself. Everything else is secondary.

The remarkable thing, however, is that sitting in the presence of God for one hour each morning--day after day, week after week, month after month--in total confusion and with myriad distractions radically changes my life. God, who loves me so much that he sent his only Son not to condemn me but to save me, does no leave me waiting in the dark too long. I might think that each hour is useless, but after thirty or sixty or ninety such useless hours, I gradually realize that I was not as alone as I thought; a very small, gentle voice has been speaking to me far beyond my noisy place.

So: Be confident and trust in the Lord.
                        ---Henri Nouwen, The Road to Daybreak in The Only Necessary Thing, 170.