I know of a man who was always sarcastic and bitter. His quick wit and biting tongue found easy targets in those around him whom he considered worthy of his verbal attacks. Some people responded in manner with harsh words, though they were never as clever as his. And others just silently bore the full brunt of his word spears.
But of all the people who felt the sting of his words, there was this one gentle and kind man who only returned these derisive assaults with loving words and deeds. No matter how harsh and negative the spoken injuries were, this kind man responded with love.
This confused the attacker. He was unaccustomed to being treated like a human being, for he did not act like one.
In a combination of curiosity and annoyance, he began to shadow the kind man. He watched him love and forgive and serve all with whom he came into contact. And the more he loved and forgave and served, the happier he became.
This amazed the man, for he was convinced that by debasing others and exalting himself, he would find his worth. Yet he discovered that love and forgiveness and service brought happiness and delight to this kind man.
And so he began to try to love others to the degree that the kind man loved him.
He tried. But he couldn’t. Every time, the urge to tear others down overcame his desire to treat them with love.
His despair led to anger. His anger led to murder. And he killed another in a fit of rage.
At his trial, the case against him was irrefutable. There were eyewitnesses. He was found guilty and sentenced to death.
Just before he was led away, the kind man entered the court room. He approached the judge and spoke with him. Though the man couldn’t hear every word of the conversation, he heard enough to realize that this kind man was the judge’s son. They seemed to come to some sort of agreement. The judge ordered the bailiff to release the guilty man and shackle his son and lead him out to be executed.
The man, nearly speechless over his new-found freedom, uttered only one word to the kind man, “Why?”
He smiled and replied, “Go and love with the love I’ve shown you. Go and forgive as I forgave you. Go and serve as I have served you.”
And the bailiff led the kind man out to his execution.
For two long days, the man battled his emotions and tried to obey the words of his dying savior. But he found, to his shame, he was unable to do so. He settled back into his comfortable routine of berating and scorning others. In fact, his bitterness seemed deeper now than ever before.
On the morning of the third day, in despair, he went to the grave of his liberator. He was startled to find that the soil had been removed carefully and the casket was empty. This infuriated him. Who did this? They would pay. They would feel the full force of his pent up anger and rage. He saw the groundskeeper a little way off. And the man headed toward him, armed and ready for battle.
But when the groundskeeper turned, the man realized that it was his executed redeemer. He fell to his knees and confessed his utter failure to keep the dying man’s final words.
He felt the kind man kneel next to him and wait quietly. He couldn’t look up. There was no way he was making eye contact with him. But the kind man patiently waited and didn’t say a word. Finally, the offender could bear it no longer and looked into the kind man’s eyes, deep eyes full of love and understanding. There was not a tinge of condemnation in those eyes. The groundskeeper breathed on him, and he felt a release in his soul. He abandoned all hope of bettering himself on his own. And he realized that only as he relied on the strength of this man could he love and forgive and serve as he did.
And so he lived out his days, gradually loving more than hating. He still messed up and fell into his old routine. But he always returned to the love that he was shown. He found that he was able to forgive those who had deeply wounded him in his past. And as he did so, he found it was easier to forgive new offenses. He served those around him who no one else was serving. And he found a joy and a hope and a peace, the likes of which he had never experienced.
For the rest of his life, the spirit of the older man stayed with him, leading and guiding and correcting him.
thank you brother