If somebody comes into the room at home, or into the office or shop, looking as if he meant to make trouble, just try switching your attention straight to the Divine, instead of squaring up aggressively to meet the difficulty or shrinking away to avoid it, according to your temperament. You will be amused and gratified to see the anger fade from the subject’s face (which will mean that it has faded from his heart too) and quite a different expression take its place.
I have myself seen several cases where men, and on two occasions, children, were actually fighting, and upon a spectator’s “turning the cheek” the strife ceased like magic. Animals respond even more easily to this treatment than do human beings. I have seen two instances where dogs were fighting savagely and all efforts to separate them had failed, when the realization of the Presence of God’s love in all His creatures restored peace. In one case it took several minutes’ work; in the other it was practically instantaneous.
Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21).
Turning the other cheek, is totally contrary to our human nature. Our human spirit urges us to defend ourselves, attack potential threats and even the score when we are wronged or attacked. It is our spiritual nature that must overcome our human spirit.
As hard as this will be, when we succeed, our lives will be transformed. And we can expect to take some hits in the short term when we turn our cheeks. But in the long run, our lives will infinitely better and our peace and joy will be assured.
Outdoing evil,
Z gardener
Leave a comment