True love is willing to wait for the beloved and in our broken world, love’s long game is the best strategy for peace. Hate and revenge get immediate results and so satisfy our desire to “do” something.
The thing we do is evil and never works. Intent is the content of our morality and so no action based in hate can be truly moral. The hate may not be obvious, but in the vast interconnections of God’s cosmos, hate cannot be hidden.
It will be rooted out and the cost will always be greater the longer time continues.
The alternative is love . . . and love need not be impotent. We give our desire for revenge to the justice system (this side of Paradise), because the justice system can act without hate or prejudice. No system will be fully free of hate, but American justice has done as well as any that has ever existed with one glaring exception: race.
Race can twist everything.
But love can win and as usual, church history gives us a good example. Our wise pastor, Father Richard, gave an excellent sermon reminding us to love everyone, even our neighbors… an even harder task than loving our enemies. He noted that Sunday was the day we remembered the work of saints and Christians murdered by the Druze in Damascus during the 1860’s. He pointed out that the response of some Islamic people was to protect many Orthodox Christians during the massacre and that during the days after the massacre, the church continued service to all people.
Most notable was Father Joseph (July 10):
Following the tradition of the priests in Damascus, Father Joseph used to keep the Communion kit at his house. During the massacre of 1860 he hid his communion kit under his sleeves, and went jumping from one roof to another toward the Cathedral. He spent the whole night strengthening and encouraging the Christians to face the situation, for the attackers can kill the body but cannot kill the soul (Matthew 10:28); the crowns of glory have been prepared for those who committed themselves to God through Jesus Christ. In relating to them the martyrdom of some saints, he called them to emulate their life.
On Tuesday morning, July 10, the persecutors belligerently attacked the Cathedral, robbing, killing and burning everything. Many martyrs were slaughtered, others went out on the streets and alleys; one of them was Father Joseph. As he walked on the streets, a religious scholar-, who was one of the attackers, recognized Joseph, because the latter had confuted him in a debate between them. Seeing him he shouted: “This is the leader- of Christians. If we kill him, we will kill all the Christians!” When he heard these words, Father Joseph knew that his end had come. He took out his communion kit, and partook of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. The persecutors attacked him with their hatchets, as if they were woodcutters, and disfigured his body. Binding his legs with ropes, they dragged him over the streets until he was dashed into pieces.
Instead of seeking revenge or developing lasting hatred for the Druze, the church continued to practice the Gospel. Today our church of Saint Paul in Houston gives money to an Orthodox bishop in Syria who feeds, serves, and loves all the people of Syria. His help extends particularly to the Druze (who are in a tough spot with even fewer allies than the Christians). If there are no good politicians in the present Syrian War, there are good people practicing love and compassion.
The stories of the martyrs of 1860 were not used to breed a spirit of revenge or hate. Instead, the service and compassion they showed is held up as a model. As a result, communities have learned to live, however imperfectly, with each other.
It is this multi-religious Syria that Da’esh hates. There may or may not be a short term political solution in Syria. I do not know, but there is surely a long term solution to all human problems: love.
Today at The Saint Constantine School we are attempting to create a community that as Father Joseph served God’s people and as the present Christians of Syria serve all God’s children in love, so we can serve the faithful and the greater community. We may not “solve” the problems of race in America, but we can love and not hate. Love wins the long game.
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