downstream

Friday November 8^th, Luke 6:  27-30 "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. If someone slaps you in the face, stand there and take it. If someone grabs your shirt, gift-wrap your best coat and make a present of it. If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously. A few years ago I was at the Sea of Galilee at the spot that is purported to be where Jesus spoke these words.  Not far from there, on the south end of the Sea of Galilee where the Jordan flows out toward Palestinian territory and down to the Dead Sea, there is a damn.  It controls the water so less of it flows through the Palestinian territory.  So much for love your enemies.  Hatred blooms on both sides.  When you read these words of Jesus, remember how easily humanity can slip into tribalism and hatred, even at the very heart of where Jesus said to love your enemy, no more tit-for-tat stuff.  Pray for peace and justice that begins in your heart and unlike the Jordan River, flows freely to those with whom you differ.  Downstream there is another sea, it is the Dead Sea.  What makes it dead is not what flows into it, but that nothing flows out of it.  So it is with our hearts.