Prayers for people who do terrible things
ChastMastr
Shipmate
in Purgatory
One thing I keep running into online (and not especially on the Ship--I mean social media) is the desire for people who do terrible things, who have died, to go to Hell, rather than ultimately be redeemed (however long that redemption might take). This disturbs me greatly. As a Christian, while I am not a Universalist, I believe in praying not just for people I revere, love, or even like, but for those who have done terrible evil, whether political figures, religious figures, murderers, terrorists, or many others. Surely Jesus died for all of us, every single one of us? (Not only the recent murder of Charlie Kirk, but the recent horrific terror attack on the synagogue, has brought this to mind.)
Thoughts?
Thoughts?
Comments
Well said, only this morning the Holy Spirit convicted me for not praying for my (soon to be ex) son-in law who has treated my daughter badly. Why haven't I?
I, who is a spiritual mentor to others, who has long forgiven those who harmed me in the past, and who has even forgiven himself (mostly) 'should' (?) have known better.
Lord have mercy.
Yeah, I assumed he’d been arrested or something at first. It was odd.
🕯🫂
He was shot and in the process the police killed at least one congregant and injured at least one other. The attacker rammed the crowd with a car, then left the vehicle, attacking with a knife, and subsequently trying to break through the doors of the synagogue by body charging them and throwing heavy objects, whilst people inside held the doors closed. It was one of the people holding the doors who was fatally injured by police gunfire when they shot at the attacker.
Tbf to the police, they probably shot rather than using tasers because they thought he was carrying a bomb. He is reported to have been wearing a padded belt. I think it turned out not to be a bomb, but they couldn't possibly have known that at the time.
He was on bail for rape - which fits the pattern of spree killers having a history of intimate violence and resorting to murderous suicide by cop with a convenient "cause" when their life is falling apart - presumably to try and make themselves look like heroes to others who share their "cause" and distract from scumbaggery that can't be convincingly repackaged as martyrdom.
I agree we should pray for all involved, but it can be very difficult to do so with sincerity.
But acknowledgement of that very real, very human emotion is not the same as feeding or nurturing it. For most of us, the question isn’t whether we feel that emotion, but what we do in response. I suspect that unless we face head-on that part of us that wants them to suffer immensely in return for the immense suffering they’ve caused us or others, it’s all but impossible to pray for their well-being and their forgiveness. And I’m reluctant to judge those who simply aren’t at the place yet where they can pray for that with sincerity.
This causes me to have no understanding whatever of those who cause suffering.
I can't accidentally stand on a snail without feeling remorse.
Praying? I pray that they will know love and show love/charity to others.
I don't subscribe to the PSA view of Christ because I have met Him and so I know He is not dead but very very much alive and present in this reality in ways that are both surprising and wholly mundane.
I prefer to view us working through the successive stages of experience on our way to a final and wholly satisfactory conclusion wherein we are all wholly forgiving and forgiven.
This is why forgiveness is the greatest gift you can give to your aggressor because you decouple yourself from the obligation to incarnate in order to replay the drama and receive their contrition. Forgiving sets the balance at zero and liberates yourself and the other from seeking a "satisfactory outcome".
The Grace of God desn't fall out of the sky. If God needs to show Grace it is through us. We are His agents. So we should act as if we understand our responsibility in this regard.
AFF
It's why, when I pray for such people, i grit my teeth and say something like "Lord, you know i really don't want to be praying for that person, but you told me to, so please ...". No need to manufacture or change feelings, just tell him what he knows is there already.
How would one gauge “sincerity” here? And what does that mean?
Amen. I’m not thinking about whether my emotions like it or not—they may be helpful or they may be obstacles, but the command to pray even for our own enemies remains regardless.
Ezekiel 36:26–27 comes to mind:
I’m thinking that the “new heart” we are called to receive is a heart that truly loves our enemies, and one in which our emotions and feelings are consistent with prayers that we offer not because we’re commanded to make those prayers, but because we are people in whom such prayers are as natural as breathing.
Granted, it can be really hard, and sometimes we have to fake it ‘til we make it. But we shouldn’t, I don’t think, be content with faking it.
I don’t consider my emotions and feelings at the time to be a correct gauge of whether or not I “mean” something. Again, my emotions can help drive my will in the right direction, or they can be an obstacle to overcome, like the wind when piloting a boat.
Whether partly here on Earth or not, I trust that my emotions, like the rest of me, will be healed and made what they’re supposed to be in Heaven and in the New Creation in ultimate redemption. The action of praying for one’s enemies can be part of that transformation process, certainly.