Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Loving the Enemy

I had a dream in which I saw my worldly father, I saw him inside a man the world might make my enemy.
The last time prior, many dream pools ago, I saw my genetic father in dreamland around Christmas. Dad gave me a gift. I opened the box to discover a purple shirt. Purple often means healing, and the shade also made me think of the purple cloth on the cross around Easter. Yet in the dream I calmly set the purple shirt aside, looked dad in the eye and said, "You are my real present."

When I awoke I knew I still loved my father, in spite of the fact he abandoned me and currently has no involvement in Aurora's life, and in spite of the fact his ongoing preoccupation with money and worldly things ever drive him to falter in loveless dishonesty and insincerity--- I love him still. The irony is that dad thought by being cold and snobby I would learn how to make my way in the world. He was wrong. His actions made me resent the world and in coming to my disgust for this hardened, regulated place, I found the softness of Jesus through dreams and visions and love not of the world. Now I feel infinite gratitude for my father's careless thoughtlessness, for in observation of his earthly selfishness, I was better capable to understand the unrivaled freedom of divine selflessness. But beyond this and far past the tediousness of confining domestic lines, I know with abounding faith and clarity that the dream was additionally expressing another critical lesson; the patient, healing love of the heavenly Father is the greatest gift of all.

I contemplated much of this after this most recent appearance of dear dad early this morning, and in peace I came to see the message of today was simple. The goodness of the Father resides even in thine enemies, it lingers in those who have stumbled constantly and wronged and betrayed and slandered you or anyone else. Recently I have felt this man in the dream has been allowing others around him to point at the tiny splinters in the eyes of others while ignoring the enormous $44,000 beam in their own eyes. It makes me upset and frustrated. Frustrated mostly because the intended lessons keep being neglected and downplayed for the sake of "survival," (which here is just another word for greed) rather than seeing that sincere service is the only true way. If you neither love nor serve your enemies but only love and serve your lies and your own "survival," what then reward do you have?

I love the man in the dream. I love him very much. I love him because we see the same dreams and I love him because he knows not what he does by lying and denying the very dreams Gos has offered us. But I hate his lies, I hate the system that makes him feel he must lie and I hate the dreamless carnal, jealous based perception that has muzzled him from talking about his own dreams. Lies are the source of corruption and lies breed torment and confusion. As much as I loathe the lies and the greed that drives him to lie, I truly love him and his soul. Just as my father had to leave so I could fathom heavenly acceptance, so too I suppose my dream friend had to deceive all of those people so both he and I could truly understand.
Which leads me to this most important verse.
‎"Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is heaven." -Jesus in Matthew 5:44

Jesus goes on the imply that in this you shall find true perfection. Mere survival is not perfection, service in washing the feet of the people who step on you is the only way to ascend to ultimate perfection. Love is repairing, it is how God mends the broken wings and the broken lying minds and mouths of His children. At it's pure essence, love is always perfect. Don't wait to use the good oil of perfection on your enemies, don't wait to wash their feet with your last bar of soap, and don't wait to give them your last dream.

I'm also including Dr. King's interpretation of this verse.

"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.

Another way that you love your enemy is this: When the opportunity presents itself for you to defeat your enemy, that is the time which you must not do it. There will come a time, in many instances, when the person who hates you most, the person who has misused you most, the person who has gossiped about you most, the person who has spread false rumors about you most, there will come a time when you will have an opportunity to defeat that person. It might be in terms of a recommendation for a job; it might be in terms of helping that person to make some move in life. That's the time you must do it. That is the meaning of love. In the final analysis, love is not this sentimental something that we talk about. It's not merely an emotional something. Love is creative, understanding goodwill for all men. It is the refusal to defeat any individual. When you rise to the level of love, of its great beauty and power, you seek only to defeat evil systems. Individuals who happen to be caught up in that system, you love, but you seek to defeat the system."

"Now there is a final reason I think that Jesus says, "Love your enemies." It is this: that love has within it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals. That's why Jesus says, "Love your enemies." Because if you hate your enemies, you have no way to redeem and to transform your enemies. But if you love your enemies, you will discover that at the very root of love is the power of redemption. You just keep loving people and keep loving them, even though they're mistreating you. Here's the person who is a neighbor, and this person is doing something wrong to you and all of that. Just keep being friendly to that person. Keep loving them. Don't do anything to embarrass them. Just keep loving them, and they can't stand it too long. Oh, they react in many ways in the beginning. They react with bitterness because they're mad because you love them like that. They react with guilt feelings, and sometimes they'll hate you a little more at that transition period, but just keep loving them. And by the power of your love they will break down under the load. That's love, you see. It is redemptive, and this is why Jesus says love. There's something about love that builds up and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive. So love your enemies."

-Martin Luther King

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