#455 – What happens when you love those who hurt you?

Loving your enemies is revolutionary. It moves you from “I can’t be happy because they hurt me” to “I’m happy because I feel only love.”

It also sets you free.

When my son was three, one night—bib on, sitting at the kitchen table—he turned to me, eyes watering, and said, "We’re happy because we love each other." Then he threw his arms around my neck. The boy was onto something.

Yesterday, I joined a Zoom meeting while someone was sharing her story. I heard her say (paraphrasing): "I realized that what I had to do was to love those who hurt me. That’s the hardest thing, but..."

Everyone involved in my son’s case came to mind. I’d been “hating” on them so much lately—and for what? What was I getting in return but resentment?

A resentment so piercing it poisoned my consciousness while doing nothing to them.

It didn’t change their awareness. It didn’t make them compassionate. It didn’t remove their vindictiveness.

So I prayed to have it removed from me––or rather, to have it replaced with love. To love my “enemies” so fiercely that the poison washes away.

What changes in you when love becomes your only response?

Love,

Carolina