Returning is the True Sign

There’s an ancient parable about two enemies. One man was down on his luck—way down. He was jumped, robbed, and left in a ditch to die. The other man was traveling between two towns and happened upon his enemy. Despite expectations—maybe in spite of them—the more well-off enemy took the moral high road. He bandaged his enemy and put him up in a hotel. As if that wasn’t enough, he stayed with him over night, nursing his wounds, assuring his recovery. The "care giving enemy", though I’m not sure that title applies after all that compassionate generosity, does the truly unthinkable: he promises to return.*To return is to insist that the work is not finished.To return is to change a one day charity into a long-term relationship.To return is to extend a chance encounter into an intentional friendship.To return is to sustain, to abide, to belong, and to insist that the old will no longer dictate and control the new.Facing our enemies out there in the world includes (and maybe requires) facing our enemies within. Both require returning, again and again, and building friendship and familiarity.When we befriend them we sustain a closeness long enough that something mysterious happens: their barbs begin to dull, their edges soften, their abrasiveness loses roughness.Returning—not ignoring, not forgetting, not running and never looking back—is the true sign that you’re learning and growing.*Luke 10