Hate is such a galvanizing force.

Hate is such a galvanizing force. Like a storm, its elements rush for maximum damage. Its destruction converges at a point, a vortex of rage - the full weight of mindless hate converges without reason and mercy.

The mob who wanted to stone the prostitute did not turn up with open hands or hearts. They rallied, chanting and clamoring, with clenched fists, safeguarding the stone they were so eager to hurl at the subject of their ire. Alas, their hearts were as hard as the stone in their hands.

You can't reason with a mob unless you are prepared to flow with their unreason. They can't be taught unless you teach them how to hate even more. The mob has no eyes to see, no ears to hear and no heart to pause. They speak in one voice, and that is the voice of death, not life.

The mob love to hate. They love to hurt. They love to stone. And every stone they throw is stained by their own blood, which is the same crimson blemish that flows in the veins of those they hate. The only difference between the mob and the object of their hate is the numbers they hide behind. Stripped of the mindless crowd, the lone hater stands on level ground with the one he hates.

In the end, we are all guilty of the very same thing we accuse the others of, and that is, the flaws we are so hell bent to eradicate from others. Hate therefore makes nothing grow except more hate.

But love is so different. It is in fact so different that it is exceptional - transforming even. In love, everything grows and matures in due season. In love, we don't see differences, we see similarities. In love, we don't see division, we see common ground. In love, we don't see threat, we see opportunity. In love, we don't see bitterness, we see forgiveness. And in love, we don't hoard, we give.

In the barren land of hate, everything dies. But in the lush green land of love, everything that yields to life flourishes. Understanding widens. Compassion blooms. Hope soars. Charity yields. Joy springs. And peace flows.

Love conquers all as it starves hate of the oxygen it needs to survive, that is, the consummation of self. As hate obsesses over self, love addresses it. Love transforms hate. She opens his eyes. She redirects his focus. She broadens his heart.

In love, we have a precursor. We have an example. In fact, in the Bible, God is love.

Jesus did not die to hate. He died for, in and to love. The greatest commandment for him revolves around love. In the last supper, he did not debate, explain or dissect theology. Neither did he lecture about theories of his death and resurrection. No, he simply reminded them to love one another.

There is no greater commandment or teaching than that. It was what his whole life was all about. It was the culmination of all the lessons he had taught - the summation of everything his spirit embodied. It was his last will and testament witnessed by all and addressed to all.

Yes, Jesus was firm. He called out the hypocrites, the blood vipers, the whitewashed tombs. He overturned tables, rounded up the den of thieves, rebuked the Scribes and Pharisees. However, his last defining act, his legacy and parting wish, was carried out in love. Jesus went all the way because he loved all the way.

It was love that drove him to Calvary; not hate. It was love that restrained his hands when they nailed it to the cross; not hate. It was love that turned the face the other way because the Father could not bear the sight of his son; not hate. It was love who declared "It's finished"; not hate - for hate would have declared "They're finished." And it was love that brought hope to the lost world; not hate.

Love weeps; hate feeds.

Let me end with this reminder I will always keep close to my heart:-

I refuse to hate.


For hate consumes.


I won't give in to hate.


For the past it exhumes.

Human will be human.


Who among us don't fall? 


In the end we stand even. 


We all fall short of the call.

Every guilt is proven.


In the way we hate.


For we are all beholden.


To one common fate.

Hate must go.


Before healing takes hold. 


No peace to the soul.


If hate leaves our hearts cold.

No life is unblemished.


No one can declare.


Our soul are all famished.


For a savior beyond compare.

Jesus bore it all.


He showed us the way.


He took the fall.


In love, above all.

So, I refuse to hate.


I shall not ferment.


I won't give in to hate.


To its childish demands.

I choose a different path.

In the steps of my Savior.

No doubt it's tough.

But I shall not waver.

Cheerz.