The curse of hating those we dislike

They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away. - Psalm 69:4 kjv

 I was twelve years old and in the sixth grade when I first tasted the bitter dregs of hatred. Next to me in gym class at Thatcher Elementary School was a Hispanic kid, Frank Sedillos.

Frank was no ordinary kid. Without parents, he had been placed in a state home where kids survived by their brawn, and the meanest kid was the boss. The problem was that Frank brought all of his pent-up meanness to school with him and bullied everybody who was in his path. In a matter of days, I decided that I disliked not only him but everybody else who was Hispanic, something that I had to unlearn as God worked in my heart in later years. So everybody who is Hispanic is as mean as Frank Sedillos, right? How foolish. Yet such is the logic of hatred.

Following the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, many people where shocked at the intense feelings of hatred that drove Osama Bin Laden and his cohorts to take the lives of three thousand people. And in the days following, some American Arabs were equally surprised at the venom of hatred directed at them simply because of their ethnic background.

It is easy to say that this problem  has always been with us, and there is nothing that can be done about it. Yet ignoring this hatred only fuels the fire. It can be reversed. The alchemy of God’s grace resulting in a changed heart can take away the hatred and help us see others as hurting individuals worthy of our respect and love. If there’s a Frank Sedillos in your life, ask God to let His love be rooted in your heart.