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 Praying for my enemies© On Tuesday, September 11 I did something terribly difficult. I prayed for the enemy who attacked our nation. I prayed for them on Wednesday too, and don Thursday and Friday and every day since. It was probably the most difficult prayer I’ve ever uttered and even as I did it I wondered why I was doing so. On the next Sunday, I got my answer. The Layreader was reading the Epistle: Paul’s First Letter to Timothy appointed for Proper 19 (I Timothy 1:12-17). Paul is speaking of his gratitude to Christ for his conversion experience and says, “I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” I heard those words and it struck me: “I am Rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. I’m Rector of a parish named for a man who was a Middle Eastern terrorist”. That’s why I’m praying for my enemy. The events of Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus are very dramatic. But I imagine there was a lot going on behind the scenes of this drama that scripture does not record. I can imagine a group of wounded souls having witnessed the stoning of Stephen praying that no one else would witness such violence. I can imagine other groups of Christians in cities and villages along the way praying that they would be delivered from violence. And I can even imagine faithful and devout Jews disgusted by the zealotry and evil praying for safety for all. These unrecorded prayers were a piece of this drama I’d never seen before. Praying for my enemy began to take on a new meaning, for if I serve a parish named for a man who was converted from a life of violence-in-religion’s name to faith and prayer was involved, isn’t a part of my vocation and that of is this parish which bears his name to pray for those who act as he once did? Without a doubt it is. I’ve been asked by parishioners, “Why we are praying for our enemy?” I pray for my enemy first because it’s what Christ tells me to do: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44). Really, there is not much else I can do. I confess I cannot even begin to feel any emotion other than anger against the perpetrators of this evil. I confess I cannot even begin to want to will myself to loving action in their regard. Any thoughts of forgiveness are premature at this time when the extent of loss is not even grasped. Even if I could bring myself to want to utter words of forgiveness they would lack the integrity and deep soul work that true forgiveness will demand. That doesn’t leave much left except to pray for them. “But, what are you praying for?” I’ve been asked. Well, I’m not praying for anything specific. In fact, I’m trying to keep my agendas and limited perspectives out of this prayer. I’m simply trying to commend these terrorists into the nearer presence of God, where perhaps they can be found by Christ and he can turn their hearts in as unexpected a way as he turned St. Paul’s. In a strange and wonderful way, I’m coming to discover that by praying for my enemy I am also praying for myself. I’m praying that my anger, my righteous vision not so consume me that I become just like my enemy. This prayer invites the Holy Spirit to protect my soul from becoming hard and bitter. By turning my enemy over to God, I prevent them from becoming an obsession which thwarts my ability to channel Christ’s love. But also, praying for my enemy keeps me aware that my enemy, just like me, is created in the image and likeness of God. While the likeness to God of these terrorists appears terribly perverted, twisted and deformed, they do bear God’s image even if God is the only one who can see it. But if God can see it, it’s not beyond the reach of grace, which can transform it. Just like God did with St. Paul. I’ve also been asked whether by praying for my enemy it means that I oppose taking military action against them in the cause of bringing them to justice. The answer is “No. I do not oppose military action. In fact, I am more in favor of such action than I have been for most of my life.” Much to my surprise, I’ve come to this as a matter of faith. In the Baptismal Covenant we take a vow that we will “persevere in resisting evil”. I’ve known what that means in regard to evil in the personal, spiritual sense, but now I believe that it applies to the incarnate sense as well. By this I mean that when I am confronted with spiritual evil (things like the pride, lust, anger and the other Seven Deadly Sins) I have to resist them spiritually. But I now also see that when evil confronts me in incarnate form, resistance may require tangible, incarnate, and pro-active measures so this evil cannot corrupt and destroy the innocent creatures of God. I will continue to pray daily for these enemies. I expect it will never be an easy thing to do, but I know it’s the faithful thing to do. I plan to use Prayer For Our Enemies on page 816 of the Book of Common Prayer quite often. Using it keeps me from thinking of the enemy as an object and not as a human. It keeps me honest, requires that I face, acknowledge, and confess the evil potentialities in me, and it guides me along the path of struggling to follow Jesus’ commandment.
The Rev. Doug Earle 
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