Loving our Enemies

Hi, it's Pauline with this week's challenge. I asked the SALT team to reflect on Luke 6:27-36 where we are challenged to love our enemies. I had an interesting discussion with some teenagers recently where they were talking about how we behave when we are with friends, and how differently we behave when around people we are less comfortable with or who we don't like. Being in a Religious and Moral Education class, the talk inevitably turned to religion and it was suggested that people who follow a command such as 'love your enemies' are pushovers, weak-willed people who cannot stand up for themselves. However, one pupil, summoning every ounce of courage they had, said that they thought the strongest person was the one who could rise above what people were saying to them and not end up in a fight at lunchtime. As a side note I work in a school for pupils with additional support needs and behavioural issues, so fights happen regularly and not just at lunchtime!

"Turning the other cheek" has made it into the English language as an expression meaning to go out of your way to avoid a nasty confrontation. Even though provoked, instead of lashing out, you turn the other cheek. The natural human reaction is to retaliate. On an almost daily basis we have pupils getting into fights over the smallest comment. We work with a restorative approach where we try to help the pupils understand their own behaviour and why they reacted the way they did.

People who have known each other for years can sometimes get into arguments (parents with children, couples, friends etc); tensions that may have been simmering for years boil over once again. And with the boiling comes anger, and with anger a willingness not just to defend, but to strike back. To get an advantage. To have the last word. To wound.

Though Jesus' instruction to turn the other cheek is intended to mean when dealing with a sworn enemy, the principle applies to every area of our lives. Don't retaliate. Don't hit back. This isn't easy though! My layout shows a class photo from when I was in my final year at school. Not all the people in the photo were friends, some went out of their way to make me miserable (or so it seemed at the time). It has taken me a long time to come to a place of acceptance where I don't find myself bearing a grudge against people who made me unhappy. I can't say that I've necessarily reached the place where I can love my enemies, but I believe that I have reached a more healthy stage.

I hope you enjoy the team's creations on the theme. It's not an easy one to contemplate and I really appreciate their willingness to think about things that are not necessarily happy things to contemplate. Remember to link back to us if you create something on the theme. We'd love to see your interpretations.

Pauline
Stacy

Kim

Lythan

Hazel



Ruth