"Love your enemies" - just a nice ideal?

In a situation where many people would "shoot first, ask questions later," the unarmed Angela Montez, a clerk at a check cashing store, ended up praying with and hugging her assailant.

Her traumatizing story started when a gunman jumped over the counter and waved a loaded weapon in her face. Panicked, Angela began to pray and then to talk to the young man. She ended up talking the robber down and then letting him share his story (he was out of work with a two year old son). Near the end of the 40-minute conversation, the young man brokedown, dropped to his knees and gave her the only bullet he had in his gun. After leaving the store he later turned himself in to police without incident.

In an amazing display, Angela became her assailant's priest, confessor, and therapist. Her compassion is stunning even days after the event as she expressed her sadness for the man and his family, yet still recognized the consequences her assailant must face (which are considerably less than the ones he would have faced had he shot her).

In a violence saturated culture many people believe that the following words of Jesus are just nice ideals:

“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!" (Matthew 5:43-44).

Angela proves that there is great power, hope and grace in these words. The situation could have been different of course. Someone, either Angela or the assailant, could be dead. What if Angela would have had a gun? What if the police would have responded with force? (This is not a slam against the police; I thank God for our law enforcement officers and pray regularly for them.) There is no way of knowing the answer to these kinds of hypothetical questions. But Angela will sleep well tonight knowing that she did the right thing - and it worked.

Epictetus was a first-century philosopher of the Roman Empire. I don't know if he was aware of Christ's followers (could he have met Paul?) but his stoic philosophy certainly echos the teaching of Jesus:

"The untrained response to robbers and thugs and to those who otherwise err is outrage and retribution. The appropriate response to bad deeds is pity for the perpetrators, since they have adopted unsound beliefs and are deprived of the most valuable human capacity: the ability to differentiate between what's truly good and bad for them. When someone does something foolish, pity hm rather than yield to hatred and anger as so many do."

"When someone performs what seems to be a thoughtless gesture or even an outright evil act, think to yourself, 'If I were that person and had endured the same trials, borne the same heartbreaks, had the same parents, and so on, I probably would have done or said the same thing.' We are not privy to the stories behind people's actions, so we should be patient with others and suspend our judgment of them, recognizing the limit of our understanding. Forgive others for their misdeeds over and over again. This gesture fosters inner ease."

Two thousand years have passed since the day of Jesus and Epictetus, but not much has changed. Angela is living proof. And she also reminds us that loving your enemies is not just an ideal.

Here's the video.

Comments

[Karen]

this brought tears to my eyes. truly this was a divine opportunity. she was so humble. how quick she was to ask his story behind his actions. what a beautiful picture of truth in love...