Whosoever request of thee a mailbox…
A scripture on peace, justice and nonresistance:
If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:41-44)
It is only by stretching the imagination to where it starts to snap a bit that I can relate this scripture to a post at YAR (*), but here’s the connection: if we’re to give our enemies what they ask for, how much more should we love our friends, and give them their own mailboxes?
There is a comic strip that I have been reading of late called Kudzu. One of the main characters is a pastor by the name of William B. Dunn, shortened to Will B. Dunn. In his prayers he identifies himself as “Thy Will B. Dunn” and from there the gentle satire commences.
My first introduction to the strip was from one that my mother sent me. In it Will B. Dunn is praying that his enemies might be “smitted”. He says “smite my worst enemy with a plague of locusts”. The last frame has a picture of pastor Dunn being smitted by a plague locust and he is saying “Let me rephrase that.”
It is said praying for your enemies is like “heaping live coals on their head.” But sometimes I think we assume that we can do the ‘heaping’ instead of letting God bring the justice and retribution that is divine. And as Will B. Dunn so aptly illustrates, we are sometimes our own worst enemy. So it behooves us to pray for each other regardless of the labels and identities the ‘other’ might have. Shalom then to all!
caroleb07
May 13, 2007 at 1:43 pm