Praying for Our Enemies


The war on terrorism focused on the news each day, portrays an enemy that should be feared and must be destroyed. Many people view all people from the Middle East as possible terrorists. Some Arab Americans have been victims of racial attacks.

God loves His children. He loves the terrorist and He loves us. He sees His child perfect the way He made him. Evil is never part of man. If we accept it has part of man than we are accepting it has part of God who made man. Only as we begin to separate evil from man can we begin to destroy the evils of the world.

Jesus told his disciples: "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; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."( Matt 5:43-45)

Jesus put into practice what he taught his disciples. He kissed the disciple that betrayed him and he forgave those who crucified him. His actions can be a valuable lesson to us all.

I was force to separate evil from man in my own life. When I arrived at my new assignment in the Air Force I was roomed with an African American. He had on his wall signs that said "Black Power." He would throw a large knife into the wall repeatedly. He would not say much to me, just give me a mean glare.

This was around 1970 and there was a lot on the news about the unrest going on between black and white Americans. I viewed him as one of those men in a black radical group on the news, who wanted to kill whites. This made me afraid of him.

I realized I had to correct my thinking about him. God's power is in reality the only power going on. God knows nothing of black power or for that matter white power. He knows nothing of hate only of love. Since God created man in His image, man can only know love. My roommate was God's child. He therefore could only love me, and I could only love him.

Every time I saw him throw that knife I affirmed that God was with me and that I did not have to be afraid. The more I confidently began to believe the divine facts I was repeating to myself my fear began to disappear.

One day when he was throwing the knife into the wall, I smiled at him and told him what a nice knife he had. He stopped and began to tell me a little about his knife. We began to talk to each other in a friendly manner for the first time. I no longer was afraid of him. He was always polite and friendly when he spoke to me. He no longer acted as if he was angry all the time. He stopped throwing the knife into the wall. We remained friendly to each other for the few months we roomed together.

I let him borrow a few things from me including my watch. When he was picked up by the military police for desertion and robbery they wanted me to testify against him. I told them I had given him the items. He was a good roommate to me and I had nothing to say bad about him. My heart went out to him. I felt no resentment towards him.

Mary Baker Eddy stated: "Who is thine enemy that thou shouldst love him? Whatever envy, hatred, revenge; the most remorseless motives that govern mortal mind whatever these try to do, shall 'work together for good to them that love God.' Why? Because He has called His own, armed them, equipped them, and furnished them defenses impregnable."(Mis. 8:9; 10:4-10)

I learned a valuable lesson in this experience. I learned that we do not have to be terrorized. We can love our neighbor regardless how he treats others or us. God made man and we must honor His creation. We can deny the picture of man we see portrayed on the news. God's man is not a terrorist nor can he be a victim of terrorism. All that is really going on is God and His harmonious creation.