Lent is a good time to ask myself: “Who are my enemies, and who do I feel justified in putting outside my Circle of Concern?”

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) was an American Trappist monk, mystic, poet, social activist and scholar of comparative religion. Merton wrote more than 50 books in a period of 27 years. Among Merton’s most widely-read works is his bestselling autobiography: The Seven Storey Mountain, a classic that is still being widely read today.

I have found these words of Thomas Merton most helpful to think about:

“Do not be too quick to assume that your enemy is a savage just because he is your enemy. Perhaps he is your enemy because he thinks you are a savage. Or perhaps he is afraid of you because he feels you are afraid of him. And perhaps if he believed you were capable of loving him he would no longer be your enemy.

“Do not be too quick to assume that your enemy is an enemy of God just because he is your enemy. Perhaps he is your enemy precisely because he can find nothing in you that gives glory to God. Perhaps he fears you because he can find nothing in you of God’s love and God’s kindness and God’s patience and mercy and understanding of the weakness of men.

“Do not be too quick to condemn the man who no longer believes in God. For it is perhaps your own coldness and avarice and mediocrity and materialism and sensuality and selfishness that have killed his faith.”

In other words, who I label as my enemy may say more about me than about them.

I know I am too quick to condemn someone for no reason at all, how about YOU?

DON’T CONDEMN SOMEONE JUST BECAUSE THEY SIN DIFFERENTLY THAN YOU DO!

You will find 365 wonderful poems in my book, A POEM A DAY TO PRAY 2025. https://treatsforthesoul.org/a-poem-a-day-to-pray/.  Please share a copy with a friend.