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Love Your
Enemies
Here
we touch one of the greatest dangers that face peacemakers: that peacemakers
themselves become the victims of the evil forces they are trying to overcome.
The same fear of "the enemy" that leads warmakers to war can begin to
affect the peacemaker who sees the warmaker as "the enemy." Words of
anger and hostility can gradually enter into the language of the peacemaker.
Even the sense of urgency and emergency that motivates the arms race can become
the driving force behind the peacemaker. Then indeed the strategy of war and
the strategy of peace have become the same, and peacemaking has lost its heart.
One
of the reasons why so many people have developed strong reservations about the
peace movement is precisely that they do not see the peace they seek in the
peacemakers themselves. Often what they see are fearful and angry people trying
to convince others of the urgency of their protest. The tragedy is that
peacemakers often reveal more of the demons they are fighting than of the peace
they want to bring about.
The
words of Jesus go right to the heart of our struggle: "Love your enemies,
do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who
treat you badly" (Lk 6: 27-28). The more I reflect on these words, the
more I consider them to be the test for peacemakers. What my enemies deserve is
not my anger, rejection, resentment, or disdain, but my love. Spiritual guides
throughout history have said that love for the enemy is the cornerstone of the
message of Jesus and the core of holiness.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen in Peacework
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