What follows is an excerpt from my new book Turtle on the Fencepost: Finding Faith through Doubt

from p. 28 

Jesus’ Ten Most Unpopular Sayings

2. “Love your enemies”

This famous passage and its accompanying encouragement to “turn the other cheek” are taken literally by the Quakers among others. The rest of us tend to water it down. “Surely,” we might think, “Jesus wouldn’t expect me to love the likes of Adolf Hitler, Saddam Hussein, or that jerk who lives down the street.” We also tend to water down his message when it comes to matters such as war. Thomas Aquinas, for instance, went through some impressive mental gymnastics to come up with the theory and theology of justifiable warfare (a concept, by the way, developed centuries before the atomic bomb, chemical warfare, and other aspects of “progress”.) Loving our enemy, then, is something we’d just as soon not want to consider (even though Jesus said it).

Loving my enemies is a much more personal challenge. My enemy is anyone I don’t like. Worse yet, my enemy is anyone who doesn’t like me! Yet these are the people Jesus calls me to love. Am I supposed to invite my enemies over for dinner? I don’t know. All I know is that I can at least pray that God blesses them, which is hard enough. I remember one time praying for a man who’d given me trouble. I prayed that he’d be able to get a new car I knew he wanted., though I have to admit, at then end of the prayer I added, “At least give him a flat tire once in a while, Lord.”

Turtle on the Fencepost: Finding Faith through Doubt by Richard B. Patterson is published  by Liguori Publications. It is available from the publisher and can also be ordered at www.amazon.com and at www.barnesandnoble.com

If you take the time to read it, I would welcome your feedback. My e-mail address is RichP45198@aol.com