Sunday, January 31, 2021

The simplest lesson is the hardest to learn

Throughout the gospels we see an ongoing battle between Jesus and the forces of evil. One of the more powerful examples is found in Mark’s Gospel (Mark 5:1-20). A legion of unclean spirits is sent by Jesus into a herd of swine which then rush down a bluff into a lake and die. Jesus triumphs.

This Gospel reminds me of a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr. He stated, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only Light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” Jesus was the living presence of love on this earth. He could drive out hate. His Resurrection was the ultimate triumph of love over evil.

King went on to say, "Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction." King was well aware of Jesus’ words, "All who take the sword will perish by the sword.” (Matthew 26:52)

When will we humans ever learn that lesson? Billions are spent every day on weapons, while nickels and dimes are spent on strategies for peace. Our country spends more than $25,000.00 a second on "defense" while thousands die of hunger around the world. “Gotcha” politics and social media have turned our nation into one which is more concerned with hurting those who disagree with us than in finding ways to help each other. It’s ironic that hypocrites in our government are more concerned with uncovering hypocrisy in one another than they are with doing what they were elected to do. And all of this hypocrisy appears to be driven only by hate and paranoia.

Only love can end war. If we had enough love, we would budget money, personnel, time and energy to feed the hungry, secure clean water, provide sanitation, teach the illiterate, cure diseases, and do all the things that turn enemies into friends. Peace is possible if we put aside the profit motive and choose justice for all as our identity.

The gospel battles between good and evil continue to be waged in the hearts of human beings. Meditating on the words and actions of Jesus is the way to strengthen our wills for the test. Uniting with Him in love guides our hearts into peace.

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"I demand from you deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Me. You are to show mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere. You must not shrink from this or try to excuse or absolve yourself from it.

I am giving you three ways of exercising mercy toward your neighbor:
the first — by deed, the second — by word, the third — by prayer. In these three degrees is contained the fullness of mercy, and it is an unquestionable proof of love for Me. By this means a soul glorifies and pays reverence to My mercy.

Many souls ... are often worried because they do not have the material means with which to carry out an act of mercy. Yet spiritual mercy, which requires neither permissions nor storehouses, is much more meritorious and is within the grasp of every soul.

If a soul does not exercise mercy somehow or other, it will not obtain My mercy on the day of judgment. Oh, if only souls knew how to gather eternal treasure for themselves, they would not be judged, for they would forestall My judgment with their mercy".