Jesus spoke of those who hurt Him: "Father, forgive them for they do not what they are doing". He did not retaliate. He did not consider them as murderers, but as victims. It is as if He saw in their faces not hatred, but confusion, not as a militant mob, but sheep without a shepherd.
They did not know what they are doing. And if we think about it, they didn't. They did not have the faintest idea what they were doing. They were mad at something they could not see, so they took it on, of all people, God.
They did not know what they were doing. Neither do we. We do not fully understand pain, life or death. We do not know much about love or hate. We do not understand aging and we cannot cure our own bodies. We cannot stop wars and we cannot feed a vast number of people die of hunger every day.
Saint Paul speaks for all of us when he says: "I do not know what I am doing."
Of course we know that our not knowing, does not justify anything. It does not justify the action of a hit and run drunken drivers or porn peddlers, or heroine dealers. But it does help explain why they do the miserable things they do.
If we look at it, uncontrolled anger does not better the world. A sympathetic understanding does. Once we see the world and ourselves as we are - fallen and broken - we can help. We begin to operate not from the posture of anger, but of compassion and concern. We begin to look at the world not with bitter frowns, but with extended hands, realizing that the lights are out and many people are stumbling in the darkness. So, we light candles.
Michelangelo said: "we criticize by creating". Instead of fighting back, we help out We go ghettoes. We teach schools. We build hospitals. We help orphans and we put away our guns.
There is something about understanding the world that makes us want to save it - and even die for it.
They did not know what they are doing. And if we think about it, they didn't. They did not have the faintest idea what they were doing. They were mad at something they could not see, so they took it on, of all people, God.
They did not know what they were doing. Neither do we. We do not fully understand pain, life or death. We do not know much about love or hate. We do not understand aging and we cannot cure our own bodies. We cannot stop wars and we cannot feed a vast number of people die of hunger every day.
Saint Paul speaks for all of us when he says: "I do not know what I am doing."
Of course we know that our not knowing, does not justify anything. It does not justify the action of a hit and run drunken drivers or porn peddlers, or heroine dealers. But it does help explain why they do the miserable things they do.
If we look at it, uncontrolled anger does not better the world. A sympathetic understanding does. Once we see the world and ourselves as we are - fallen and broken - we can help. We begin to operate not from the posture of anger, but of compassion and concern. We begin to look at the world not with bitter frowns, but with extended hands, realizing that the lights are out and many people are stumbling in the darkness. So, we light candles.
Michelangelo said: "we criticize by creating". Instead of fighting back, we help out We go ghettoes. We teach schools. We build hospitals. We help orphans and we put away our guns.
There is something about understanding the world that makes us want to save it - and even die for it.
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