"Love Trumps Hate" Revisited

 Most of what follows originally was posted in 2014, right after disturbances broke out when the Ferguson police officer was not charged in the shooting of Michael Anderson. 

December 4, 2014

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that,” words spoken by Martin Luther King, Jr.  When our emotions are raging, it is so tempting to act in ways that only feed the trouble at hand.  Surely God has a better way if we, as Christians, will draw on our faith and the Holy Spirit’s power to follow Christ’s ways of love and peace.  One verse I am drawn to often is in Romans 12:21:  “Don’t be overcome with evil but overcome evil with good.”

  I’ve been reading a book of my daughter’s, Let me Sow Love: Living the Peace Prayer of St. Francis, by James E. Adams.  While waiting in a doctor’s office, I turned to where my bookmark was in the chapter titled, “Where There is Hatred, Let Me Sow Love.”  As the news on the television in the room was covering all the destruction and turmoil after Officer Wilson was not indicted, I read these words of self-examination: “We must be aware of the hatred and ill will that we may be harboring against others.”  The chapter ends with this prayer: "Lord, help me to learn from You the gentleness and humility of heart I need to live the Peace Prayer.”

  In God’s eyes, we all stand at the feet of the cross as equals, sinners in need of the grace and mercy of God.  Let us try to be part of God’s goodness and mercy at work in the world, especially in our thoughts, words, and deeds right now at this difficult time in our city, our country and beyond.  (end of post)

Almost two years have passed.  Violent acts of hate in America continue to shock, anger and sadden us.  In just a few days, two Black men were shot when stopped by police, and five Dallas officers died after being shot by a sniper specifically targeting them.  When interviewed on the morning after the attack on the white policemen,  Bob Schiefer, a CBS journalist of many decades, spoke of a cultural change.  Our society has become "less patient . . . rude,” less tolerant and loving.  And then there are all those guns.

The love that drives out hate is the love of God, a love that prompts love for others, a love that can save us over and over from being victimized by our own less constructive, selfish,  and outright destructive human emotions.  Lyrics from a 2010 song, “The Basics of Life” keep coming to my mind:  “ . . .Where are the virtues that once gave us light?  Where are the morals that governed our lives?. . .We need to get back to the basics of life, a heart that is pure and a love that is blind.”

By God’s grace, we do, indeed, need to get back to the basics of life.