Matthew under the arm 19

Coffee with a very light breakfast before we set off again.... Columba is leaning over my shoulder reading the Newspaper with me. He points out the number of times the word 'enemy' appears in articles... He seems sad as he reads about 'troops massing....' Then there is that ubiquitous word 'borders', 'boundaries'.... He notices the fear in my eyes. I look at him and he doesn't need to say anything. The fear and the dislike, the borders and resistance are in me.... 'Alright, Columba. I recognise that enmity is in me. What do I do about it to change?' He replies with a slight smile at the edge of his mouth. 'Do you want to change?... Try not changing, but just accepting that all these negatives are in you.... Then wait in prayer...' The changing will become a process in me, perhaps? Let me see and wait with Matthew....

Matthew 5:43-48….

‘Love your enemies….’ This is not a mere suggestion but a demand of the Kingdom. Furthermore, it is a demand on communities as well as on individuals. There is no concession here by Jesus to pragmatism. It may seem strange but this demand along with most in the Sermon seems to be impossible to follow. However, we read the Gospels from the 'other side' of the Crucifixion and Resurrection where what is impossible is not only possible but real in the experience of Christians. From that perspective the demand ceases to be beyond us. God calls those who follow Christ to love enemies and are given 'power' to fulfill that call.


Open the dark corners of your heart. Acknowledge your fears. Be released of your enmities

Hatred is only possible if you have loved. This is not about dislike. It’s about the deep fear that comes about as a result of alienation from those I have loved and have loved me. So the hatred is in me, not in the one I hate. What is so hard is take responsibility for the fear and enmity that is in me. By projecting it on to someone else, another country, a political figure, I take the easy route out of my deep and painful feelings. After all, dictators are created because of my unwillingness to take responsibility. With this sentence I can slowly begin to have peace in myself that may in the Grace of God affect those from whom I am alienated.

+Martin

Argyll and The Isles