Jewish religious philosopher Abraham Heschel, in his meditations on the sabbath: ‘The meaning of the Sabbath is to celebrate time rather than space. Six days a week we live under the tyranny of things of space; on the sabbath we try to become attuned to holiness in time.’ Whereas we move about in space in order to win space through the use of technology, and in order to deal with the ‘thing- ness’ of space, the goal in the realm of time is not to have but to be. The religions of ‘the nations’ concentrate on sacred places and sites. But ‘Judaism is a religion of time aiming at the sanctification of time’. The sanctification of time is not a disparagement of space. Both the conquest of space and the sanctification of time are part of the task assigned to human beings. But the sanctification of time has to be a commandment of its own, since it does not impose itself of itself, like the conquest of space. It is the necessary counter-weight to the life that usurps space, because it calls a halt to the threatening enslavement of the human being to technological civilization. So on the sabbath the tools which can so easily be beaten into weapons are laid aside, money dealings are avoided, and in the midst of the struggle for existence which seems so omnipresent, we can find an island of peace in which to live [emphasis mine].

- Prof. Bernd Wannenwetsch, University of Aberdeen
Political Worship : Ethics for Christian Citizens, p. 349

Brian McLaren referred to this prayer of forgiveness for critics and enemies last night at an event I attended at the Claremont School of Theology. It comes by way of a Serbian priest who was arrested by the Nazi’s during World War II. As the story goes he was betrayed by a fellow priest. As he sat in prison, anger began to consume him, leading him eventually to pen these words:

Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them. Enemies have driven me into your embrace more than friends have. Friends have bound me to earth; enemies have loosed me from earth and have demolished all my aspirations in the world.

Enemies have made me a stranger in worldly realms and an extraneous inhabitant of the world.

Just as a hunted animal finds safer shelter than an unhunted animal does, so have I, persecuted by enemies, found the safest sanctuary, having ensconced myself beneath Your tabernacle, where neither friends nor enemies can slay my soul.

Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless and do not curse them.

They, rather than I, have confessed my sins before the world. They have punished me, whenever I have hesitated to punish myself. They have tormented me, whenever I have tried to flee torments. They have scolded me, whenever I have flattered myself. They have spat upon me, whenever I have filled myself with arrogance. Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.

Whenever I have made myself wise, they have called me foolish. Whenever I have made myself mighty, they have mocked me as though I were a [fly].

Whenever I have wanted to lead people, they have shoved me into the background.

Whenever I have rushed to enrich myself, they have prevented me with an iron hand.

Whenever I thought that I would sleep peacefully, they have wakened me from sleep.

Whenever I have tried to build a home for a long and tranquil life, they have demolished it and driven me out.

Truly, enemies have cut me loose from the world and have stretched out my hands to the hem of your garment.

Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.

Bless them and multiply them; multiply them and make them even more bitterly against me:

So that my fleeing will have no return; So that all my hope in men may be scattered like cobwebs; So that absolute serenity may begin to reign in my soul; So that my heart may become the grave of my two evil twins: arrogance and anger;

So that I might amass all my treasure in heaven; Ah, so that I may for once be freed from self-deception, which has entangled me in the dreadful web of illusory life.

Enemies have taught me to know what hardly anyone knows, that a person has no enemies in the world except himself. One hates his enemies only when he fails to realize that they are not enemies, but cruel friends.

It is truly difficult for me to say who has done me more good and who has done me more evil in the world: friends or enemies. Therefore bless, O Lord, both my friends and my enemies. A slave curses enemies, for he does not understand. But a son blesses them, for he understands.

For a son knows that his enemies cannot touch his life. Therefore he freely steps among them and prays to God for them. Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.

- A Prayer for Enemies and Critics courtesy of Brian McLaren