Choosing Love Over Hate

All of us were deeply moved by the attacks of terrorism in New York recently. Jesus taught us only one way to react to hate and that is to love. He said, "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;"(Matt. 5:43,44)

When Jesus was unlawfully arrested Peter took out a sword and cut the ear off one of the solders. Jesus told Peter to put away his sword and he touched the solder's ear and healed him. Later when he was up on the cross being crucified by his enemies he said "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."(Luke 23:34)

I had proof of how love heals hate in my own experience. I served one year in Vietnam. While I was there, I never had to shoot at, nor did a Vietnamese solder ever shoot at me. However, I was taught they were the enemy; and for a few years after I returned home, continued to think of them that way. I often felt my time in Vietnam was wasted and unappreciated by others.

When I went into my second year of Christian Science nurses' training, there was a Vietnamese woman in my class. When she learned I had served in Vietnam, she wrote me a letter I will never forget. She told me how grateful she was that I and other soldiers were sent to her country to protect her. It was the soldiers who introduced her to the religion she loved, Christian Science. If it had not been for the soldiers she would have not been able to come to the United States and be in this nursing class.

The letter touched my heart. My time in Vietnam was not wasted. Any sense of hatred I had for the Vietnamese was completely healed. I saw how God's love was with me and was with all those associated with the Vietnam War.

A few years later, I encountered hatred while doing my Christian Science nursing work. A patient whom I was assigned to take care of always told me how much she hated me. She would express this even when I came into her room to assist another nurse.

One day as she was again telling me she hated me, I noticed that my hands were shaking. I realized that I was being intimated by her actions toward me. I reached out to God in thought. Hatred was not personal therefore it could not come from her or be directed at me. I knew God was the only power and hatred had no power.

The Bible gave me this counsel: "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?" (I John 4:20) I love God and I can love everyone that He created. This patient was the child of God. Since God was love she could only express love.

The next time she said she hated me, I responded, "But I love you", and I meant it. I loved her because I knew God loved her.

After a few short weeks, I began to notice a change in her. She began expressing love toward me and everyone else she came into contact with. Visitors who had known her for years remarked about her change in character. At the time of her passing, she was a gentle, kind and loving person.

Mary Baker once said: "This time-world flutters in my thought as an unreal shadow, and I can only solace the sore ills of mankind by a lively battle with 'the world, the flesh and the devil,' in which Love is the liberator and gives man the victory over himself " (My. 268:20-24)

Let's begin today to heal hatred in our lives by choosing to respond with love. This can be a step in creating peace in our world.