RIGHT #06: the Right to LOVE anyway

“Yesterday we obeyed kings and bent our necks before emperors. But today we kneel only to Truth, follow only Beauty, and obey only Love.” ~ Kahlil Gibran

Don’t get me wrong, it is quite reasonable to hate our enemies.

It is reasonable to shun the criminals who attack your loved ones and the terrorists who attack your country …

It is reasonable to loathe the boss who harshly criticizes you or the teacher who openly ridicules you …

It is reasonable to detest the coworkers & the classmates who gossip about you behind your back …

It is reasonable to despise the friend who betrays to you or the lover who cheats on you …

It is reasonable to abhor the government who spies on you while it ignores your demands & lies to you about its doings …

It is reasonable to be disgusted by the corporations who poison your body for profit and rail against the religious gurus who shackle your Soul for pride.

All these forms of hatred are understandable … They are our natural reactions to being attacked, and they are still considered the norm in our everyday lives.

The problem is: they are all — every one of them — completely counterproductive. Aggressive responses to the wrongs done to us not only suffocate our own minds with thick cloaks of unsettling anger & morose depression, but they also actually encourage our enemies to continue abusing us with their misguided forms of malice.

Though these responses might be reasonable and though they might be “righteous” … they are also primitive and essentially powerless.

Fortunately we are all sentient beings … We are not ruled by our stone-age instincts … We are not required to respond to hatred & ignorance with more hatred & ignorance … We have the ability to CHOOSE how we respond to those who attack us … We have the ability to choose LOVE.

Now I am not talking about the “love” of warm & fuzzy feelings here. I am not advocating that we somehow choose to adore or even mildly like the people who are treating us poorly.

What I AM talking about here is LOVE, the verb. I am talking about hating what is being done to you and disliking the person(s) doing the same, and yet responding with courageously compassionate Kindness anyway.

I am talking about being repulsed by religious “leaders” who twist & edit & darkly interpret the world’s sacred texts to slake their thirst for influence, and yet reaching out to those charlatans with Kindness; reminding them through your humble gentleness The Way they have so obviously forgotten.

I am talking about being disgusted by the unethical practices of corporations like Monsanto, and yet openly forgiving their CEO’s while gently shifting your lives towards consuming with conscience.

I am talking about abhorring your government — the politicians who sacrifice your well-being for their own power and the agencies who perpetrate great evil in the name of your once-great nation, and yet choosing to feel compassion for their hollow existence while calmly diverting all of your time & energy to doing for your communities what they long since should have done.

I am talking about despising the friends & lovers who abandon you, and yet refusing to do the same in their own times of need or trouble.

I am talking about detesting the folks who say mean things behind your back, and yet choosing to have compassion for their coldness by saying Kind things about them behind theirs.

I am talking about loathing the figures of authority in your life when they insult or embarrass you, and yet going out of your way to anonymously give them the unconditional Caring so obviously lacking in their lives.

I am talking about shunning — even hating the criminals who rob you of your possessions and the terrorists who rob you of your peace of mind, and yet responding to their acts of violence with the only thing violence fears: the open arms of Peace.

I am talking about all of these things, my Friends …

I am talking about being faced with acts of injustice and aggression and finally responding in a way that actually works …

I am talking about being Kind when least inclined …

I am talking about LOVE.

“Now there is a final reason I think that Jesus says, ‘Love your enemies.’ It is this: that Love has within it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals. Just keep being friendly to that person. Just keep loving them, and they can’t stand it too long. Oh, they react in many ways in the beginning. They react with guilt feelings, and sometimes they’ll hate you a little more during that transition period, but just keep loving them anyway. And by the power of your Love they will break down under the load. That’s Love, you see. It is redemptive, and this is why Jesus says to Love. There’s something about Love that builds up and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive. So Love your enemies.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

Filed under: The Inalienable Eleven by Scaughdt