Today we read at Morning Prayer of how David lamented for Saul (2 Samuel 1), Saul who had hounded and persecuted him, Saul who had sought his life (1 Samuel 21, 1).
Is this story just monarchist propaganda – we must love the Lord’s Anointed? I think, more than this, on a spiritual level, it reminds us that loving our enemy means just that. Not being neutral about him or her, not suppressing the feelings about them that rise up in our hearts, but actually, genuinely loving them.
This love is hard. But we must remember that God shares His Love with us (Romans 5, 5). With His help we can truly love even those who hate us and curse us and ill-treat us (Luke 6, 27).