Many years ago I had a fight with a family member. As I walked out to my garage-workshop, smarting, suddenly I felt a great love welling up in me. I realized that wasn't the real me who had said all those nasty things. I knew I was really a loving person, wanting to do right, to see everyone happy and productive. Soon I went back to my "enemy," shared with her these new thoughts I was having, and found that she had similar feelings.
Too often when we vent anger, the suggestion comes that frustration and fear are the basic "me"; that while we get along with people most of the time, deep down there's also a personal wickedness ready to control us at any opportunity. Was I serving some sort of evil influence? Surely there's no freedom in that!
Remembering that the Bible describes man as the image and likeness of God, who is Love, I realized I would have been much happier to respond to my companion with love, thus defusing the whole incident. Having learned a lesson, I can now sometimes discern more of the nature of God, good, expressed in my neighbor. It's less the material sense of man and more the spiritual that comes to my vision. Who am I serving now?
