In Today's Gospel (Matthew 5), Jesus tells his disciples (and us): "You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, 'Raqa,' will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, 'You fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna."
Woah. Serious stuff. I think we can all agree that killing people is not ok. But Jesus calls us to a powerful nonviolent love that is so much harder. Beyond refraining from physical violence, we are also called to refrain from violent thoughts and words about other people.
Now anyone who knows any other people knows that there is no way you will never be angry at someone or think bad thoughts about them. They are human. We are human. Enough said.
But as Christians it is not enough to leave it at that, but instead to invite the awesome power of God's light and love into our hearts, lives, relationships and eventually the whole world.
Is the nonviolent path easy? No. It takes hard work, deep intention, humor to laugh at yourself when you make mistakes, willingness to brush that failure off and to try again. And again. And again. Because we are human beings dealing with other human beings, which means we'll get lots of practice.
Jesus teaches us the way. Choose love. Your heart will be transformed and eventually you might just help change the world. May God's kingdom come, God's will be done.
Love.
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