Friday, February 15, 2002
Friday, February 15, 2002
"But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you."
Maybe you don't have any enemies. Or maybe you do.
In the early days of electric lights in this country, Thomas Edison was promoting DC current,
the kind you find in batteries, and George Westinghouse was promoting AC current, the kind
that today comes through electrical lines. As homes were being wired for electricity,
Westinghouse's AC current was winning out.
Edison, hoping to undermine the popularity of Westinghouse's AC current, hit upon a plan.
Edison had been asked by a member of the New York State commission on capital
punishment to help them come up with an alternative form of execution to the customary
hanging. Tying his two problems together, Edison invented the modern electric chair--using
Westinghouse's AC current. When names were suggested for this type of execution such
words as "electricide" were put forward. Edison, however, was adamant. He wanted them to
say that the condemned criminal had been "Westinghoused!"
"Love your enemies!"
(Luke 6.27
NRSV)
A little girl wrote to her pastor:
Dear Pastor,
I heard you say to love our enemies. I am only six and do not have any yet. I hope to have
some when I am seven. Love, Jennifer.
Lord Jesus, help me to love those who are hard to love. Amen.
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