If you read all of this, some of you will, some won't be mad. Oh well. When the student is ready, the teacher appears. I'm in charge of what I say (pray then talk), you are in charge of what you hear (pray, then listen). Relax, God's in charge.
In case anyone missed this or forgot it today: “And we have ceased fighting anything or anyone.”
How about this: “In everything give thanks.”
Or this: “There is One who has all power.”
Or, “Resentment is the number one offender” and “we had a thinking problem.”
More: “We ask God to direct our thinking.”
And: “Forgive those who” …finish the sentence and you lose your reward of peace because it’s an endless answer masked and echoed by countless delusions of who is right and who is wrong. Republicans/Democrats, racists/non-racists, men’s groups/women’s groups, Christians & OTHERS (or vice-versa), gay/straight, skinny/fat, vegan/omnivore, rock/classical, cats/dogs, green/purple, north/south, clear skin/pimples, blue eye devils/monkeys, sober/not sober, victim/perpetrator, criminal/cop, good/evil, and all the ways we separate.
Whatever our defects of character, if we have asked God to remove them, yet they remain, then understand they still serve a purpose. The same is true with all of the ills of the world, real or imagined. They serve a purpose and will remain until that purpose has culminated in love. If we love our defects, ironic as it might sound, our defects get weaker; they relax into a state of peacefulness. We become the “hole in the doughnut.” If we FIGHT our errors or the shortcomings of others, they get stronger. Push on someone’s defense, and resistance is usually a certainty. Feeding the dark side makes it stronger.
“Love you enemies” were the three words that cleared a church I attended of about one-third of the Parishioners. That Pastor put God over money. I was amazed.
Take what you like and leave the rest.
The old Zen saying, "You cannot wash off blood with blood," refers to the conviction that it is difficult to control thoughts with other thoughts. Let Go, Let Go. But as it is with most humans, most of the things we let go off had claw marks all over it.
In Kempo, a study I embraced in my youth, they had a saying: "Who teaches Kempo? God teaches Kempo."