AOM Meditations: 093020

by Hiroo Isono

Thanks to our Friend, David, for sending us this beautiful art

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"I know this is difficult

Perhaps the most difficult of all -

To those who hate you

For simply being you

Be gentle with them

Remove all hostility

in your conversations with them.

Be kind and understanding 

and compassionate with them.

By being this way you contradict

All they have been taught about you.

It is how we begin to 

break down the walls that separate us

It allows us to no longer see each other

As demons or as enemies to fear.

Think how you react 

when someone is hostile to you.

Of course we want to be hostile back,

But that is not the way forward.

Kindness is powerful.

It is humanizing.

It is the bridge toward unity

Friendship and community."

The above is from a conversation between Morgan Freeman and Megan Phelps-Roper in the show, The Story of Us. Megan is the granddaughter of the founder of Westboro Baptist Church. She spent her youth carrying those awful signs of hate we've all seen in photos and on television. As a young woman, Megan began to take the message of the WBC on to Twitter. It was through her contact with others on Twitter that she began a conversation with a kind and compassionate man. Through those conversations, Megan was able to break free and change. 

~*~

"Today we are inundated by news stories

That make us feel divided

By our different political and religious beliefs.

Our compulsion to sharing news on social media

Only seems to make those issues wider.

We can harness the power of social media for good.

It can be a medium for gentle and patient conversation. 

It can help us to find our shared humanity."

~Morgan Freeman from The Story of Us

(Now playing on NetFlix)

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“Now there is a final reason I think that Jesus says, "Love your enemies." It is this: that love has within it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals. Just keep being friendly to that person. Just keep loving them, and they can’t stand it too long. Oh, they react in many ways in the beginning. They react with guilt feelings, and sometimes they’ll hate you a little more at that transition period, but just keep loving them. And by the power of your love they will break down under the load. That’s love, you see. It is redemptive, and this is why Jesus says love. There’s something about love that builds up and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive. So love your enemies."

~Martin Luther King Jr.