The eleventh word in my Lent lexicon is
LOVE
At first glance it’s hard to see how this might be a challenging Lent word. Surely to love and be loved is good? It is, and yet, as I reflect more deeply I become aware of the challenges that love presents.
We are all too aware of how much we need love and how vulnerable that needy can leave us. We have experiences of receiving love that are life giving. We also have experiences of not receiving the love we needed and how damaging that can be for us.
Love requires us to put ourselves aside, to think first of what would be best for others. To do that with those most intimately connected to us is hard and challenging enough. Yet Jesus tells us that this not enough:
“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; in this way you will be children of your Father in heaven, for God causes his sun to rise on the bad as well as good, and the rain to fall on the honest and dishonest alike.”
This call to love goes beyond our limited human ways. It calls us to love as God loves. It can seem almost impossible. If we struggle to love those who love us how can we love those who would harm or hurt us?
It’s a hard call especially when hate and mistrust seem to be gaining the upper hand in our communities and societies. In such times this call is even more important. Jesus calls us to risk an openness and vulnerability that goes beyond our limited human understanding of what love is.
Where are you being called to love your enemy this Lent?