Continuing the Meditation on 1 John

1 John 2:7- 11

Whoever hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. But what about when we do not hate, and yet find a brother or sister difficult? When something about them irritates us, rubs us the wrong way? That is not hatred, but it unsettles us. Irritation is not yet sin, but it brings us to a crossroads - will we remain in the darkness of self, or let the Spirit lead us into the light of love?

Perhaps such irritations are given for us to ponder. Like the lowly oyster, who endures the intrusion of a grain of sand, unwelcomed, yet from the irritation it forms a pearl - so too can we. What the oyster bears in silence becomes a beautiful and prized gift to someone. Can we turn our irritations into such a pearl - a child of wisdom? For as Scripture says, wisdom is known by her children. And what is wisdom, if not the Holy Spirit, understood and carried in us to bring healing to ourselves and others?

Maybe the irritation is not only about the other, but about us. I think it is both. Perhaps it is the Spirit shining her light upon a hidden place within, revealing where healing is needed. The irritation is then an invitation, a chance to let the Spirit transform our darkness into light.

Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light. To turn our pains of irritation into an opportunity to love - rather than to follow the feelings that rise within us - is our goal. This is the way of the Cross. As it is written - "Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things". If that is our choice, what else could the fruit be but our healing?

So in the case of not hating, but struggling with difficulty, the way of love is to build a bridge. For, “whoever hates another believer is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know the way to go.”

May we allow the Spirit to take even our small irritations and shape them into pearls of love. Then, when we place them in God’s hands, they become treasures not only for our own healing, but for the healing of the world.