Matthew 5:43-44 (KJV): Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.

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Thich Nhat Hanh writes, “When we hate someone, and are angry at her, it is because we do not understand her or the circumstances she comes from. By practicing deep looking, we realize that if we grew up like her, in her set of circumstances and in her environment, we would be just like her. That kind of understanding removes your anger, and suddenly that person is no longer your enemy. Then you can love her. As long as she remains an enemy, love is impossible.”

Have you ever prayed for a loved one with your heart wide open? Have you ever entered that space inside yourself where you so want your loved one’s pain and suffering to cease, or at least be diminished, that you are moved to tears? We, as humans, may be brought to tears as we enter into the anguish and suffering of another person. What a lovely thing it is to be a human being!

Most of us only enter into this space of deep and compassionate prayer rarely, but many of us have, at times, experienced this level of connection with a loved one, so that some element of their pain is our pain; we do not know “exactly how they feel,” but we can enter into some facet of their suffering. This is the work of the bodhisattva. This is the “practice of deep looking” that Thay speaks of. We may be angry with a friend, but when we open ourselves to their suffering, “that kind of understanding removes your anger.”

Here’s the little joke of Jesus: What happens if you begin to pray, with such “deep looking,” for those who “despitefully use you, and persecute you”? Well, to even begin such prayer, you need to acknowledge their pain and suffering. Then, you have to embrace it: You have to try to feel it as they feel it; You are invited to be moved to tears by their pain. As Thay says, “That kind of understanding removes your anger, and suddenly that person is no longer your enemy. Then you can love her.” In other words, as we “pray for, bless, and do good to” those purported enemies, we will lose our capacity to hold them as enemies; then, we will “love our enemies.”

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A blessing and challenge of the Bible is that there are multiple translations. The King James Version (KJV) of Matt 5:44 reads, “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” Compare this with the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the same verse: “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” The NRSV is a respected translation, typically used by Biblical scholars, and it is a base translation for us in Fresh Green Blessings, but we will also use and encourage familiarity with the KJV in this podcast series. Not only is the poetry of King James beautiful, there is sometimes much that is lost, as is seen in Matthew 5:44, if we limit ourselves to the more modern and terse New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). Pick a verse and compare the KJV and NRSV.

(Music: Courtesy of Adrian Von Ziegler, “Circle of Life.” )