Why not admit that there are enemies?
I have in mind those that can be called, and actually are, enemies.*
I know many of their names. I find it difficult to love them.
The language of enemies is seen as the end of a conversation—or the end of relationship.
We assume everyone is doing their best, or failing on some things but not everything, or that people are cogs in a complex machine over which they have little control. We let systemic oppression be the problem. When we see others hurt, when we encounter people enacting terror on their neighbors, we assume they are simply misguided.
Yet Christians follow scriptures in which enemies are named with clarity and vigor. The third chapter of Luke begins by naming the names of the tormentors of the Jews of the first century: Emperor Tiberius, Pontius Pilate, and Herod. Right up front we are introduced to the full swath of political actors who oppress and terrorize the common people of Judea.
Tiberius was the emperor known for his extreme paranoia and wrath that spread like a disease across his territories. Pontius Pilate, the prefect of Judea, executed political enemies without trial and was infamous for his bribes and insults. Herod Antipas imprisoned and executed his enemies over personal slights.
Luke sets the scene for the gospel in a tyrannical, volatile, and oppressive political climate. And he wants us to know who is in charge, who makes this repression possible. He doesn’t reduce the problem to “good people who do bad things.” He doesn’t blame systems. He names enemies.
(--from, THE FORGOTTEN CHRISTIAN DISCIPLINE OF LOVING YOUR ENEMIES, If you're going to love your enemies, you need to know who they are. BY MELISSA FLORER-BIXLER, Sojourners, sept-oct 2019)
They don't want to have a conversation with me. My silence is uncertain it wants to break for them even if they did.
I used to sit with a man who was on Nixon's enemies list. There was a leftover pride he and his family felt even four decades later.
My enemy seems self-driven and self-absorbed. (When I think of self, the word
anattā arises.)
My enemy seems fixed and stuck in an unyielding opinion about Browns and Blacks, Muslims and Democrats, Women and Humility. (When I think of unshakable opinions and unrelenting prejudice, the word
anicca arises.
My enemy seems unaware of the harm and consternation, fear and cynicism, disheartened apathy following in his (their) wake as they roil and rant in demeaning depredation. (When I think of this behavior, the word
dukkha arises.)
There are men and women who are my enemies. You know their names.
And yet, in turn, these enemies have characteristics that don't exactly have faces, they are three poisons --greed, aversion, delusion.
The
three poisons (Sanskrit:
triviṣa; Tibetan:
dug gsum) or the
three unwholesome roots (Sanskrit:
akuśala-mūla; Pāli:
akusala-mūla), in
Buddhism, refer to the three root
kleshas of
Moha (delusion, confusion),
Raga (greed, sensual attachment), and
Dvesha (aversion).
[1][2] These three poisons are considered to be three afflictions or character flaws innate in a being, the root of
Taṇhā (craving), and thus in part the cause of
Dukkha (suffering, pain, unsatisfactoriness) and rebirths.
[1][3]. (Wikipedia)
Last night while sitting in vigil with a man just deceased I thought about how, in one final instant, all the things that were carried to that moment -- medical issues, mental concerns, emotional worries, financial depletion, spousal surprise at sudden turn, the labored agonal respiration -- just fell away, and quiet stillness, what some call peaceful resting, others call death of the body, and yet others might call the mysterious disappearance.
Andirivieni.**
**The coming and going -- of, in, and through -- this life.
Can we, can I, love this?
All of it?
... ... ...
*
noun
plural noun: enemies
a person who is actively opposed or hostile to someone or something.
| synonyms: | foe, adversary, opponent, rival, nemesis, antagonist, combatant, challenger, competitor, opposer, hostile party; More
|
a hostile nation or its armed forces or citizens, especially in time of war.
noun: the enemy
"the enemy shot down four helicopters"
a thing that harms or weakens something else.
"routine is the enemy of art"
