Some Suggestions for Sowing Love Where There Is Hatred
"I recommend that you practice what I do each and every time I find myself in a situation where hatred is present. I repeat the line from the Saint Francis prayer, 'Where there is hatred, let me sow love.' Believe it or not, the effortless act of repeating the line to myself, allows me to shift my inner dialogue away from the hatred and onto thoughts of love. This prayerful reminder also empowers me to take actions based upon love, rather than my ego's inclination to fight hatred with my own hatred.
"Last week on a tennis court in the midst of a doubles match, one of the players began hurtling hateful epithets at another player, accusing him of cheating. The angrier he got with his verbal insults the more the environment of the court was being poisoned. I had been writing about the prayer of Saint Francis, and the reminder to sow love where there is hatred came immediately to mind. I told my partner, who was the intended recipient of the hatred, to simply say nothing in response, rather than return the insults. I suddenly said out loud for all to hear, and directly to the man who was filled with hatred, 'You know, we all love you, win or lose.' I was surprised that I did that, but even more surprised at his response. He looked at me, smiled, and said, 'I'm sorry, I just lost it.' It was an amazing example of sowing love in the face of hatred and seeing it disappear almost instantaneously.
"When you are in the presence of someone who is obviously directing hate toward you, think of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples on the night before his crucifixion. My wife told me that she was taught to think this way when she was a young girl and has practiced it silently throughout her life. In your mind imagine what it is like to walk in the shoes of the hater. Then mentally remove those shoes from that person's feet and create a picture of yourself washing his or her feet as Jesus did. This mental image not only allows you to project love to the hate you are witnessing, but it distracts you from your conditioned habit of just being hurt and angry."
