Faith Matters

I find hope in my faith.

It may not sit well with female human rights defenders that I espouse the love of Jesus as the cure for most of what ails global society, but nonetheless I do. It is a simple thing really, to love your neighbors as you love yourself. Sometimes, though, it is hard. It's hard to love people who violate, disrespect or deny your human rights. What we need to realize is that most iniquity workers in the world do not love themselves enough to be able to share some of the love they have to give with others. These people suffer from a state of lovelessness, which can leave one feeling forlorn, hopeless and full of rage.

I've struggled with both sides of this thing. As a sufferer and survivor I've often found it unfair and unjust that the people who have violated me in countless ways are often given a free pass by calls to love and forgive. My faith and my belief in Kingian non-violence says that I'm to give them my other cheek, too. What of self-preservation? Truly, if I allow the deeds of others to bring ruin to my character--which I've carefully crafted over a period of 49 years--then what am I preserving? A person who has become an empty shell of a person, a person without faith or works, a lone survivor full of hate?

Everyday, I reach for love. Every day, I say the name of Jesus out loud, and meditate on the works that He did when He walked the earth so long ago. I believe He was a real person, a person sent by God, a teacher instructed to teach us how to love, even those who offend us. I believe He died on the cross because He was a warrior for justice, and this keeps me hopeful. He found it in His heart to say "Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do." Many times, those who violate our human rights don't realize the great harm they're doing to others and the world, because they aren't cognizant of their own humanity. It is important to fight them with justice, hope and love so that they can be brought to a state of humanity, even after they are held accountable.

I have forgiven rapists, traffickers, hate crime perpetrators, woman beaters and the like on many an occasion. In doing this, I learn to love myself because what a person I have become to be able to do this! It is only through the great example of Christ Jesus that I have developed my character to begin with, and in learning to love myself I have possession of an expanded sense of love that allows me to love others. I did not believe myself to be an evangelist, because who am I to be this, but today I have to say in print that it is my Lord who heartens me when times are tough. It is in His message to love others as I love myself that I have become a full human, capable of full thought and a range of emotions that allow me to heal from the hurts that others have caused. Hope is where you find it, and I find it in my faith.