Scripture ~ “To you who are ready for the truth, I say this: Love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer for that person. I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give without expecting a return. You’ll never – I promise – regret it. Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we’re at our worst. Our Father is kind; you be kind.” Luke 6:27, 37-38 The Message
Spiritual Focus ~ “You never so touch the ocean of God’s love as when you forgive your enemies.” Corrie ten Boom, Dutch Christian writer and speaker who helped many Jewish people escape the Nazis during World War II
Breath Prayer ~ Inhale, One Path ~ Exhale, Love
Devotion ~ The intention of One Path ~ A Journey of Love is to draw us toward God and to understand Jesus’ teaching from the sermon on the plain to live out our God-given identity. With God’s promise of love and presence, we look at the most challenging directive from Jesus: love your enemies. At the very core of this teaching is the question of how? How do we love our enemies when all we really want is for them to stop using whatever energies compel them to do harm?
Many of us have the war in Ukraine on our minds and it would be easy to fall into a spiral of blame and hate. Mahatmas Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. taught that love is the only way to drive out hatred. Luke’s gospel reminds us of our identity as children of God, siblings of Jesus, which roots us in a gracious and generous love, especially in hateful situations. Anchored in the ocean of God’s love, we learn how to love our enemies through prayer, meditation, and appropriate action. In a period where evil seemed pervasive, Corrie ten Boom was able to forgive her enemies through the disciplines of prayer and meditation, fostering healing and building resilience.
Prayer and meditation connect us to our inner sanctuary, to God, and to each other—even to our enemies. This connection is what guides appropriate action that aligns with and reflects God’s love for all people. This connection is also the basis of our collective resilience, a reminder that our wellness and healing are bound up in our shared humanity. Resilience is strengthened in many ways: with a kind gesture, through silent prayer and meditation, as well as sound and chant where we sense the audible connection within ourselves, with God, and with others. While loving our enemies may be perhaps the most challenging of Jesus’ teachings, it holds much potential for drawing us toward God on the One Path, a Journey of Love.
