I’m writing today’s reflection in a cafe on Holy Island. The UK Eurovision entry is playing on the radio. It’s already a bit of a banger and an earworm. The girl has found out her boyfriend has been a bit of a, well, you know. She ponders brutal revenge standing outside his house, planning to “cuss him out” and crash his Benz to tell all his friends how cruel he’s been. Instead, she puts her best clothes on and does her face and goes out with her mates to try and move on, so that the cruelty doesn’t set the agenda: “instead, I wrote a song.” almost journaling it…
Yesterday’s reflection about “them” and that lectern was an angry one. Some people might not have appreciated my writing about politics. Ms Braverman used the word “compassionate” in an interview - I’ll not comment today! How do we deal with anger and being wronged? Do we “cuss it out” or do we write a song with a different lyric?
The Northumbria Community posted a reflection on Facebook this morning reflecting on Dostoyevsky and his “The Brothers Karamazov.”
He says: “ At some ideas you stand perplexed, especially at the sight of human sins,
uncertain whether to combat it by force or by humble love.
Always decide, "I will combat it with humble love."
If you make up your mind about that once and for all, you can conquer the whole world.
Loving humility is a terrible force; it is the strongest of all things and there is nothing like it.” We need a different way. Humble love. It isn’t easy and it may make us carry a cross but it is the right way.
The singer hurt and angry has the right way…
“Kept my cool and composure
My mother would be so proud
I was ready for a sentence baby
Instead I wrote it all down
Oh I was gonna
Cuss you out, outside your house
For everyone to see
Wanted to trash your Benz, tell all your friends
How cruel you were to me
Instead I wrote a song
‘bout how you did me wrong
I could have cried at home
And spent the night alone
Instead i wrote a song
I feel much better now
Me and my girls are out
And we all sing along.”
In the end while we are called to combat evil and do what we can to put it right, we must not damage ourselves being so consumed by hate and a desire for revenge, there seeps a poison inside us and we suffer mentally. The wrong doer doesn’t care about us after all! Humble love - the way of Christ.
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