Pilgr-image 22 - Overcoming Evil
...if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also... Matthew 5:39
You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you. - Matthew 5:39-42
It is this audacious offensive of love that forces the man to go further and thus to break down. He tries to break your head, and you, as a Christian, try to break his heart. - E. Stanley Jones
This may look like the summit of a mountain but it is one of several “false summits” on a climb up a 14,000’ peak called Quandary Peak. Before we climbed this several years ago, I had been told ahead of time that there were these false summits. So I knew they were there but each one was still discouraging whenever as I got toward the top of one and realize, “nope there is still more to go.”
Overcoming evil is like that. It feels like a never ending climb filled with false summits. Just when you think you have overcome one thing, there’s another ahead. There’s a Haitian proverb that I learned about in a book by Traci Kidder which says, “Beyond the mountains, more mountains.” The book is about a doctor named Paul Farmer and his focus on trying to fight tuberculosis in Haiti, Peru, and Russia. The book shares challenge after challenge that Dr. Farmer and his team faced in their fight. And yet, they kept climbing and kept going.
The above quote from E. Stanley Jones reflects the reality that this work is hard and tiring work. To change a heart takes time. It almost never happens immediately. Whereas we can break someone physically with just a weapon, to change a heart takes a lot more. It takes patience, endurance, grace, forgiveness, love, and so much more. It takes turning the other cheek more times than we can imagine. One of my favorite quotes from Dr. King is that “love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.”
And so we keep climbing.
Keep going...(sounds like a Progressive statement). I'm sure every human being has encountered long term struggle with something small that gets incorporated into their life, like allergies or having curly hair. Keep going is learned in the little things, I think. Baby steps to Giant steps. Its a good thing Giant steps cover more ground with each forward movement.