Article March 16, 1929 Issue

Loving Your Enemies

BLANCHE GALLOWAY

Men are prone to classify those with whom they associate into two groups, namely, friends and enemies. Of these two groups, they much prefer the former. But the whole world is searching and longing for more friendship and love. Individuals are seeking for more love within the family circle; for deeper, more lasting friendships among their associates; and for more harmonious business relations. Nations are laboring to bring about more friendship politically, industrially, and socially within their own units. They have also begun to seek outside of their own boundaries for more love and friendship, even among all the nations of the earth. This is shown by the efforts to establish agencies through which to bring about world peace.

Through experience, the world has come to the realization that enmities bring only suffering; and for this reason it is willing to be rid of them. Suffering oftentimes leads one to search for the true solution of any given problem. At a time when a student of Christian Science appeared to be surrounded by enemies, and had been searching the Scriptures to find a way out of an inharmonious situation, these words of Jesus seemed to stand out as never before: "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." She had long desired to have no enemies, but to be commanded to love them gave much food for thought. She saw that instead of expecting her enemies to change themselves or in some way to become changed, so that they would seem more lovely to her, she must begin to change her own thinking. Reading on to the end of the chapter containing the words of Jesus just quoted, she saw how impartial God is in bestowing His blessings, and realized that unless she followed the Master's command she herself was doing no better than she might believe her worst enemy was doing.

When the desire has come to make the attempt to love our enemies, we can be thankful; for desire is the first step in the healing work to be accomplished. Mrs. Eddy says, however in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 322), "It is easier to desire Truth than to rid one's self of error." The next step toward loving our enemies is to learn how to love them. Many people wish to overcome their hatred and their unloving thoughts, but they do not know how to do so; they do not know what steps are necessary.

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