A friend and I are talking this morning and he is talking about praying daily. “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”. That turns into a discussion of enemies and ourselves. It’s easier to have an external enemy identified than to deal with ourselves, isn’t it? Here is today’s poem.
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Enemy
Do you have an enemy?
Do I have an enemy?
maybe I have no enemy
I have people I have forgiven
I have people who I have asked to forgive me
I have people I have forgiven
but keep distanced
no reconciliation
possible if they continue abuse
blind and deaf
saying “We are righteous!”
over and over to each other
A book teaches me
asks what are you most proud of
in yourself?
Three things:
strong, smart, tough.
The mirror is what you fear the most
weak, foolish, vulnerable
I shy back, hate the author
and he is correct
at least for me
Like the sutra
sometimes I am weak
sometimes I am foolish
sometimes I am vulnerable
When there is a person
or people
I want to hate
What aspect of myself
of my past
of my psyche
are they bringing up?
Are they stronger, smarter, tougher?
Are they weaker, foolish, more vulnerable?
Why do I want to hate them?
It’s easier, I see
to hate another person
and cast them out like a demon
then to look in the mirror
and see the aspect of myself
that I long so much
to hate
That demon
once cast out
will return with seven more
Mirror mirror
on the wall
tell my why
the angels fall
if an angel gets it’s wings
every time a bell rings
each time we hate another, as well
an angel falls heaven to hell
KO Rural Mad As Hell Blog 
I don’t know. I just know that right now I’m angry at my town for not caring about the possibilities of Covid enough to protect other people. I know I have to “get over it” because there’s no choice AND that doesn’t apply to everybody; plenty of people — like me — were/are careful. I believe that ignorance is the enemy, that and the lack of curiosity that leads to ignorance. I dunno…
I don’t think you need to forgive people who are increasing your risk for getting Covid-19 again right NOW. It could take some time or years. The heart is a stubborn organ and will hold feelings for whatever time necessary.
It’s a kind of PTSD, I think…
Pogo (via Walt Kelly) told us a lifetime ago, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” Some lessons take a while.
I love that line from Pogo. And the accompanying cartoon.
Well talking about enemies, I had a conversation last week with someone a lot younger than me. The idea of enemy lists came up. thinking about this I realized that I had outlived almost everyone on mine, and it was a pretty futile exercise to start with.
Nice when the list is empty, isn’t it?