Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

• Luke 6:27-28

The Boilerplate

My wife started to write her thoughts down at one point in her life.  Some hints point to 2018 and 2019, after she had her open-heart surgery.  In spite of her trials and the atrial fibrillation (A-Fib) that required her to take blood thinners, this was before her major health decline.

Sometimes, she wrote a thought.  Other times, she wrote a Bible verse, and maybe her idea on that day.  Other times, it is a prayer, but I am going to take one entry at a time and try to write about it

Her comment

“Do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who are cruel to you.
Prayer: God of mercy lead us to action to make the world more hospitable to those you love, especially those who feel so far from your loving kindness. Amen”

• My wife’s next comment in this notebook

The Discussion

This little note in her notebook could have been written on hundreds of days during her last twenty years on earth.  She could have been praying about family, friends, neighbors or even enemies.  All those categories of people have hated, cursed, and been cruel to her, especially when they knew she was speaking out of Christian love.  Not everyone in those categories, but it sure hurt when family was cruel and the stranger accepted my wife’s gift of love.

I wrote the Babs and Harold conversation this morning after seeing what she had written.  Sometimes writing something in a fictional conversation is easier to understand, maybe less threatening.

My wife fought many of these fights alone.  She might talk about a few friends, but only because she said those friends were the ones she was meeting for lunch that day, and when I saw her mood that night, she knew that I knew who had been the bully.  I say “bully” for they accepted a drive from their house to the restaurant and back.  They might go Dutch, but sometimes my wife picked up the tab for the meal.  And then they gave her a verbal assault for all her troubles.

We live in a relatively safe place to talk about Jesus, but the opposition is getting bolder.  In other countries, people are openly persecuted, jailed, beaten, and even killed.  It is not that way in the USA … yet.  The new president is making claims that he wants to reverse the trend, but if the laws are not clearly changed, it could swing back the other direction with a new election cycle.

But Jesus tells us that we will be persecuted.  I have heard many pastors and evangelists who say, “If you are not being persecuted, look in the mirror and try to find out what you are doing wrong.”  That may sound harsh, but when Jesus says that there will be persecution, why not?

But we are commanded to love our enemies, those that hate, curse, and are cruel.  Yet, we are also commanded to be bold and spread the Gospel.  We need to pray first but then take that first step and then the others to follow.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory