Joanne McPortland has an excellent piece up about praying for your enemies. She challenges the us to admit that we each have a list of people we do not like, and brings us back to #29 of our 56 Ways to Be Merciful in the Jubilee Year:
Make a list of your “enemies.” Then, every day, say a prayer for them.
Here’s the remarkable secret: Praying for our enemies doesn’t change them. It changes us, slowly and grindingly and grudgingly, into people of mercy who look like their Father. It changes hatred to love. You cannot pray for someone and hate her. It changes how we see, transforming enemies into beloved sisters and brothers.
It may be human nature to hold grudges, seeds of hate that can fester in the soil of our souls, but those seeds can flourish as love if nourished on prayer. What do you think?
