Article December 17, 2018 Issue

Facing lawlessness with healing love

Martine Blackler

The breaking news on cable television reported yet another school shooting. This time a young man in the United States had killed seventeen of his classmates. As the mother of two children, I wondered what on earth moves someone to take a gun and destroy so many young lives. I felt myself being drawn into a mix of grief and anger. I got to thinking about my own response to the latest news—and about an account in the book of Luke showing how Christ Jesus responded to a threat of violence.

While Jesus was preaching in a synagogue, a crowd of listeners reacted angrily to his words, running him out of the city to the top of the hill on which their city was built, with the intention of throwing him headlong off the cliff (see Luke 4:16–30). But Jesus calmly passed through the angry mob and went on his way. He never reacted with hatred, nor could hatred touch God’s beloved Son or divert him from his holy mission. Jesus’ deep love for God and for his neighbor motivated his actions. Responding to the impulse of divine Love and demonstrating the Christ-spirit, his holy nature, he safely passed through a volatile situation.

As I thought about this, it occurred to me that when we hear of or witness hatred and acts of violence in our communities, or perhaps confront them ourselves, we have the ability to “pass through” undisturbed. This in no way means that we ignore or deny hatred and aggression, or that we are without compassion for those in need of comfort or aid. But rather, we feel the peace and security that come from knowing, reflecting, and expressing God’s love, and from knowing that divine Love is loving, enfolding, and protecting us all. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer of Christian Science, wrote, “Love is especially near in times of hate, and never so near as when one can be just amid lawlessness, and render good for evil” (Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, p. 277).

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

God’s way wins the right of way