Jesus said "Love your enemies"

Today’s gospel reading is tough. It lays out what living out the Lord’s prayer looks like. It calls us to be more.

In response to the accusation by other clergy that he was an extremist whose civil rights campaign was causing tensions between black and white people in the US, Martin Luther King Jr quoted this reading in his famous Letter from the Birmingham Jail. King wrote,

“So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice? In that dramatic scene on Calvary's hill three men were crucified. We must never forget that all three were crucified for the same crime--the crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality, and thus fell below their environment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment.”

Jesus said

"Love your enemies"

Love those who bug us,

who climb up our nose,

who make us so angry,

and we fail to love

as much as we might.

Maybe just love a bit.

And somehow in the mix

that smidgeon of compassion

is magnified

enlarged

stretched beyond our imagination

and we learn

to love

to let go

to breathe.