Zero Revenge
You have heard that it was said, `You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven (Mt 5:43-45).
Someone once interpreted the teaching of Jesus in this way: destroy your enemies - by turning them into friends! It is the only really effective method. If we try by other means, we will be in trouble with the law! And even if we were to get away with it, we would not escape the real damage we do to ourselves. Violence feeds on itself, it leads to more violence; and that in turn leads to still more. To talk about love is not to be so idealist; it is to be very realistic and practical. Without love, human life would be a nightmare. The love that Jesus spoke of is able to break the cycle of violence. It introduces a new element that makes everything possible.
Someone said that the ancient Romans lacked zero, and so they never developed mathematics. Zero frees up the whole system, makes all the other digits mobile, and makes mathematics possible. Without it, numbers are like traffic that is gridlocked: nothing moves. Love is like that. It is the zero response to hatred; it frees us from the depressing cycles of violence.
Treating others not as they deserve but as God wishes them to be treated - with loving-kindness and mercy - makes Christians different and distinct from others. God is good to the unjust as well as the just. His love embraces saint and sinner alike. God seeks our highest good and teaches us to seek the greatest good of others, even those who hate and abuse us. Our love for others, even those who are ungrateful and selfish towards us, must be marked by the same kindness and mercy which God has shown to us.
