A Reason To Love One's Enemies

 

 

Of those we would like to see punished  - a reason to love one’s enemies.

If we could see the secret life of those we would like to see punished, we would find so much grief and suffering that we would feel like criminals wishing anything more upon them. And if we could journey with God to the deepest core of this person’s pain, we would find a blind child, lonely, afraid, weeping, crying out for Love, for the light of life. And our whole instinct for Love would impel us to take this child into our arms and love them completely.   Blake Steel, RADICAL FORGIVENESS
Larry Duff · Friends with Denise Cabral Yanez
Yes, and yet, we if we allow people to act out abuse on us, it doesn't help them or us, it's destructive to both. The challenge is how to set healthy boundaries with people who still act out abusively, claim their right to that, including to not allow them in our lives anymore, love them from a distance (after we've processed through our very human anger). Easier to see the hurt child in them if we are safe out of range of their ability to act out on us.