Do Not Harm

A shipwrecked man cast upon a beach fell asleep after his struggle with the waves. When he woke up, he bitterly reproached the sea for its treachery in enticing men with its smooth and smiling surface, and then, when they were well embarked, turning in fury upon them and sending both ship and sailors to destruction.

The sea arose in the form of a woman, and replied, “Lay not the blame on me, O sailor, but on the winds.  By nature, I am as calm and safe as the land itself, but the winds fall upon me with their gusts and gales, and they lash me into a fury that is not natural to me.”

This is one of Aesop’s Fables. It reminds us that most of us by nature are calm and safe, but the winds of envy, anger, hate, lust, and especially fear can and do fall upon us to lash us into a fury.  Those are the gusts and gales none of us can escape.  We then become broken, shipwrecked, and lost blaming others for our own self-inflicted and foolish spiritual and even physical destruction.

We find or create enemies where they may not exist.  Some are simply scapegoats we create to absolve ourselves of blame and guilt.  Love can be in short supply and only given by us to those who treat us well. This is so contrary to our Gospel where we heard Jesus tell us: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”  

Wait! Seriously Jesus!?  No way! I don’t know about all of you, but not me. I cannot love my enemies. Give them an inch and they will take a mile. Drop my guard, and they will drop me, and hard. I get what you are saying Jesus, but I won’t lay down and have my enemies walk all over me. I will confront them, challenge them, and go toe-to-toe with them.  

Then again, as hard as it may be – perhaps as unrealistic as it may seem – loving one’s enemies really is the best way to unravel the cycle and spiral of conflict and even violence inflicted through words and physical harm. It’s a Catholic thing to do good to those who hate us, bless those who curse us, pray for those who mistreat us.” Okay, reluctantly, we’ll throw into the mix, loving our enemies.

Someone has to have the sense and courage to say “Enough!” We will not put wood and gasoline on the fire of anger that easily flame up and lead to hatred and violence – to war.  We will stop the eye-for-an-eye and tooth-for-a-tooth approach. We will no longer seek vengeance.

Do we have any example of this sort of violence?  Yes.  We find one in our first reading from the First Book of Samuel where it was said that David and Abishai went among Saul’s soldiers by night. They found Saul lying asleep within the barricade, with his spear thrust into the ground at his head with Abner and his men sleeping around him.

Abishai whispered to David: “God has delivered your enemy into your grasp this day. Let me nail him to the ground with one thrust of the spear; I will not need a second thrust!” Now that’s not love your enemy. That’s why this reading is placed before today’s Gospel.  It’s a stark contrast, and it is what we must not do.

Who is our enemy?  Only we know. Who must we love?  Only we know.  And, what is real love – the truest test of love?  Only we know. But here is some guidance – some sound advice for those of us who are unsure.

Real love is wanting what is best for someone else, free of consideration of how our goodness to another might be to our own advantage.  Therefore, the truest test of love is to love our enemies precisely because they can be counted upon not to return the generosity of the giver.  

This difficult guidance makes sense when we focus on not expecting anything in return for the love we give.  Can we think of any example? Parenthood.  Parents and those serving as parents – like grandparents, aunts and uncles – give love and know there may be times – perhaps many times – when that love is not returned.

 Then we have the ultimate challenge given to us by Jesus.  He said: "To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?" 

Did we notice that the Golden Rule is  buried in this scripture reading? That rule is: “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” But Jesus went even further when said to offer our other cheek and not withhold even our tunic. He said go the extra mile for people – do more and don’t expect anything in return. He speaks of real love – even sacrificial love. That also sounds like charitable giving when we don’t expect or want recognition. We want nothing in return.

We end with an ancient story: There were four men walking through the woods when suddenly, they came across a high wall. Intrigued they built a ladder to see what was on the other side. When the first man climbed to the top, he cried in delight. The same thing happened to the second and third men. The three jumped down to the other side.

When the fourth man reached the top, he smiled at what he saw: lush, green gardens with fruit trees of every kind, streams teeming with fish, and wild and tame animals in abundance. Like the others, he was tempted to jump down. But he then thought of his family, friends, and neighbors and went back to share with them the good news he had discovered. 

Jesus gave us the Good News. Like the fourth man, we are to share the Good News such as: Do to others as we would have them do to us.  Be merciful. Stop judging and we will not be judged. Stop condemning and we will not be condemned. Forgive and we will be forgiven.

Part of the Good News is simply this: We are to stop nailing people to the ground and stop the thrusting of spears.

In our first reading, David said to Abishai, “Do not harm Saul.” He says the same to us: “Do not harm.” Therefore, let’s all remember that our tongues can be sharper than swords or spears. Let’s stop thrusting them.

Deacon David Pierce