Thread by @SuneAuken

#ThursdayThoughts.

"What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?" (Matthew 16,26)

This is a sermon on loving your enemies. However, you don’t have to be of this or that or any faith to follow the train of thought. 1/16

I do, however, begin in a religious text: Milton’s “Paradise Lost”. In particular¨, the opening of book IV. Satan is returning to paradise to tempt Adam and Eve, but he realizes that even in paradise he cannot escape hell, because “Which way I flie is Hell; my self am Hell”. 2/16

I repeat the point: he cannot escape hell because even in paradise he brings hell with him. 3/16

If you want to see what that looks like as a modern phenomenon you only have to look around. We have them everywhere, but there is no better picture than the current resident of the White House. 4/16

Born to immense privilege, pampered, treated as special, always deferred to, always having his way, protected by an army of lawyers and a truckload of money. Even when he wanted the presidency, with no prior knowledge or experience, he got it. Deified; admired beyond reason. 5/16

And yet there he sits, and every ugly emotion you could ever imagine, plus quite a few you can’t imagine, and several you don’t want to imagine, sweep through him. Therefore, every word, which leaves his mouth, is full of the emptiest vanity and the ugliest hatred. 6/16

I repeat, again, he cannot escape hell because even in paradise he brings hell with him. 7/16

He is not the only one in that hell, in fact this special place seems to hold frighteningly many people these days. People who come from privilege, have lied and cheated their way to the top, and still haven’t found an ounce of humanity in themselves, once they got there. 8/16

“I cannot love that!” you say. Not only do I understand you, I also find your feeling perfectly acceptable, and I’m not going to argue against you.

I do, however, want you to consider what loving such a person would look like. 9/16

If you love someone you want what’s best for that person, so the question would have to be asked: What is the best thing you can imagine for a person like that.

The answer to me is obvious: to be liberated from the hell they carry with them everywhere they go. 10/16

So the question becomes: what would that even look like? A psychiatrist would possibly tell you that it is impossible; that these dark triad personalities are damaged beyond repair, and that all you can do is stay well clear of them. But for today I’m a preacher of love. 11/16

So, here is what I wish for them. I wish that they realize the hell they are in, realize that they are caught up in sin in a way that’s eating their souls – if you prefer a less soulful word for that, be my guest. 12/16

I wish them the clarity to see their transgressions and to repent them. I wish for them to see that they must stop hurting other people, and that this is the only way for them to stop hurting themselves. 13/16

I wish them to withdraw from the spotlight, and I wish them long quiet hours to reflect upon the damage they have done, and to work to repair at least some of it. 14/16

I can wish them no traditional success, because it hurts themselves and others, and I wish them no punishment – even though as a citizen interested in the rule of law I might want to see them punished nonetheless. But that’s a sense of justice, not a feeling of love. 15/16

This is the only path I can see for them out of their personal and very special place in hell. Nothing else does them any good, as nothing else liberates them.

Love your enemies; but remember that love sometimes has to be more relentless than hate. 16/16