Good God

[ UPDATE: NEW CLIP ] What did Jesus mean when He said to love your enemy? Is it a 2,000 year-old outdated mantra or something more? Some define it as allowing an evildoer  free reign without protest  while others argue for employing an eye-for-an-eye method in certain scenarios. 

In his book Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda asks Mahatma Gandhi the definition of ahimsa or non-violence, Gandhi answered, “The avoidance of harm to any living creature in thought or deed.” Yogananda asked if one could kill a cobra to protect a child. Gandhi maintained he would still hold to his vow of ahimsa, but added, “I must confess that I could not serenely carry on this conversation were I faced by a cobra.”  Mahatma Ghandi was certainly one who demonstrated peace and truth in action but there are countless others - many without a face - who languish within metaphorical, as well as literal prison walls.

While some are discussing what non-violence looks like, others are actually putting it into action either by personal demonstration or writing great novels-turned-into-movies in order to uplift unconditional love.  In Victor Hugo's,  Les Miserables, Jean Valjean is a thief recently released from prison on his way to Dijon for work but stops in a small village to rest. It is late so he knocks at the door of a Bishop to beg for dinner. The Bishop not only invites the criminal inside to dine at his table but encourages him to stay overnight.

During the night, the criminal steals the Bishop's finest silver and escapes into the night. The next day, Jean Valjean is caught by the police and is hauled back to the Bishop's home. What the Bishop does next  is a perfect snapshot of how love and trust have the unsinkable power to transform the human spirit. The HS.com team favors the 1993 version featuring Liam Neeson but unfortunately, the video clip is no longer available.