Love Is the Greatest Power in the Universe – And That Includes Your Enemies

Love is the Greatest Power in the Universe

I’ve been talking a great deal recently with one of my long-term clients about the power of love … and the fact that love is the greatest power in the Universe.

This article was originally written many years ago. It’s one of several that had never been transferred to my main website (Magnificent U) when I shut all the others down. I’ve added some things and changed some things to update it for you here and make it available on Magnificent U.

The idea for this article about how love is the greatest power in the universe and that you should love even your enemies first came about when a particular hate group was coming to Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia to protest at the university and the high school. This organization apparently believes that the shooting that took the lives of so many people at Tech was God’s wrath for the community’s sins.

Lots of people are outraged by the organization and their comments.

I find situations like this very insightful. It forces us to look at who we are and what we believe. Do we become as angry and judgmental as they are?

I certainly hope and pray that we do not. We disagree with their interpretation of the scriptures. We find their behavior and judgment very offensive. They could easily cause us to feel angry and judgmental.

But is that who we want to be?

George Lucas was giving an interview about the original Star Wars Trilogy and indicated that the entire trilogy was about the redemption of Anakin Skywalker. Until he said it, I’d never thought of it from that perspective. But it’s a story about Anakin/Darth Vader, even though he had turned to the dark side, allowing love to guide his actions to save his own son, Luke, from the evil emperor. Even in that story, love was the greater power in the universe.

There is an amazing story in the Life and Teachings of the Masters of the Far East where a band of marauders was about to attack an unarmed village. The people of the village were frightened. Jesus went out onto a balcony and exuded love. The marauders became confused and they turned upon one another. When it was all over, not one villager was injured. And the people from the village then went out and tended to the wounded.

Love is the greatest power in the universe. It is the only thing that has ever healed anything. How many holy wars have been fought on this planet because people believe different things about God? Anger, hatred, judgment has never done anything except cause pain and sadness.

When you fight “against” anything, you give it more power.

One can take actions, one can stand for something, one can say “No” without having to resort to anger, hatred, and judgment.

Love thine enemies is definitely not an easy task. Yes?

Yet if you think about Jesus and what he would do, you know he would not be yelling insults and wanting to dismember someone. He would most likely do exactly the “right” thing that would cause them to stop or see with new eyes. But I seriously doubt he would do it with hatred. We have heard that he prayed this prayer – “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

I often say that phrase myself when seeing things or hearing about things that can cause anger. Social media, like so much news that many of us avoid on purpose, is full of stories and headlines that can incite anger, hatred, judgement, and fear. Rather than going into the negative emotion such “news” can evoke, I say to myself, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” I often use the word Beloved (meaning Divine) instead of Father in that phrase.

Situations like this often happen for a reason. It is in our world, and our back yard, so that we can learn something and grow. What can we learn about love and about ourselves through these situation? Who can we become as we are faced with these situations and people so full of hate and judgment?

“Lord make me an instrument of thy peace.” – St. Francis

That’s another great mantra to consider.

Fill your heart with love and let your life be an example,