“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…” (Matthew 5:43-44, NRSV)
So there I was driving along one morning last week, anticipating the various things I was to do that day, when the bane of my existence appeared.
I have no idea if it was a man or woman, but s/he clearly was doing everything s/he could to make my life miserable. I was in the right lane with lots of cars on my left and the car ahead of me pulled to a stop and the hazards came on. A passenger (it looked like a high-school boy) took his time getting out of the car and meanwhile I was stuck with no way to pass the car. The driver could had easily pulled ahead a bit, but clearly s/he wasn’t interested in that. Just before I was about to pull what little hair I have left out of my head, a verse I read that morning popped into my head.
“Pray for those who persecute you.”
I’ve typically kind of skimmed over that verse. I don’t know if I’ve ever had anyone intentionally persecute me, that is, knowingly desire to make my life miserable. But it dawned on me that I could easily slip a word into that verse and, voila, it takes on a whole new meaning.
“Pray for those who (unknowingly) persecute you.”
That changed everything. Now, I know that saying that I was “persecuted” by this mystery driver is a huge reach. It was a minor annoyance and delayed my trip home by 20 seconds at the most. But I think I’m onto something. Ever since then, when I feel put out by someone, that little verse comes to mind and it forces me to get a grip. Yes, I’ll pray for the person who’s unknowingly “persecuting” me, but this exercise really helps me to stop for a moment and get a little perspective. I sometimes realize that the person who’s persecuting me…is really myself. So I say a prayer of me, as well.