In The Age of Hate - Love Your Enemy?

Today is Palm Sunday, and the beginning of Holy Week for Christians around the world. We prepare for and reflect upon the Last Supper, the arrest, trial and crucifixion of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And we remember the ultimate triumph, the resurrection and Christ's victory over death. For me, I reflected on all this by going back and reading his very first sermon - The Sermon on the Mount found in the Gospel of Matthew, chapters 5-7. This is the core theology of Jesus. The words were radical then and they may be even more radical today. I am particulary struck by the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:43-48.

"You have heard that it was said, "Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But, I tell you, love  your enemies and pray for those who persecute you that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

What? You've got to be kidding me! Jesus was not kidding. Love. Your. Enemies. In our society today, one in which we have normalized, rationalized, and justified hate, how radical would it be to love our enemies instead? Have you ever prayed for an enemy before? I do not know that I have. The closest I think I came was from about 8th grade for me. Those who know me are aware that I played plenty of baseball as a kid. We enjoyed our share of success, but we had one team that we could not beat no matter what. We thought they were all obnoxious and a bunch of bums. Definitely not human. It was easy to make them an enemy. Then along about 8th grade, one of their players encountered a serious kidney illness that was going to require major medical attention. One night after our team had a baseball practice, we all loaded into our various coaches' cars and headed over to this young man's house to give him a couple of presents and to let him know that we were pulling for him. And we prayed for him. Right there in his bedroom, where he was basically bedridden. I hope that he felt blessed in those few moments that we spent with him. But, it changed me. I think for the first time I saw this young man, and all his teammates, as human. And in my own heart I sincerely wished for the best for him. Now, do not get me wrong - the next time we went out and played against these guys we wanted to beat the crap out of them. We failed, and they continued to have their hold over us. But I was changed.

Jesus told us to love our enemies. He did not say "Do not hate your enemies." That leaves a lot of room for indifference. He does not want us to be indifferent. He wants us to love our enemies. Who even is your enemy? The best I could come up with is that an enemy is someone who actively wants you to fail without any regard for you. In the big scheme of things, an opposing player is not an enemy, but a rival or an opponent. 

These are tough words. "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." Make no mistake that perfection is the standard. Have I lived up to it? Not even close. This is where grace comes in, but that is for another day. Love your enemies. I love my friends and family, particularly my immediate family. My kids, my friends, even my wife who has been deceased for several years now. And you want me to have the same feelings for my enemies that I have for those closest to me? And to demonstrate that love when called upon to do so? That's a tough ask, but that is what the Lord demands. 

These words have been on my heart this week as I have re-read the Sermon on the Mount. I have read these words several times in my life, and it is easy to skim over the words and not give them much thought. Love your enemies. In today's world that is some radical thinking. I would encourage you to open your Bibles and read the Gospel of Matthew, chapters 5-7. And really focus on the words of Jesus.

Finally, as for the opposing baseball player, he is very much alive today, and by all accounts has been quite successful in life. And I am truly happy for him.

The Inevitables

 Back in the 1990's, investor Warren Buffet talked about 4 stocks in his investment portfolio that he called "the inevitables." He described their businesses as almost bullet proof and indicated that he would never sell any of them. Fast forward 30 years, and how things have changed! The four publicly traded inevitables were Capital Cities/ABC, Coca-Cola, Gillette and the Washington Post. Today, only Coca-Cola remains in Berkshire Hathway's portfolio and the other three are hardly at the top of their game. What happened?

Three of the companies were purchased and taken out of the public markets. Capital Cities/ABC was purchased by Disney. Gillette was purchased by Procter & Gamble. The Washington Post was purchased by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. What is surprising about this is that these Inevitables are struggling today. Capital Cities/ABC owned the ABC television network and ESPN. Both of these networks are struggling today, the victim of increased competition and changing consumer preferences. Gillette has seen increased competition in razor blades, deodorants, and facial care in general. Finally, today the Washington Post announced that it is laying off 1/3 of its staff. 

What happened to these companies? In short, the world changed. Mr. Buffet always liked the local newspaper business. It was basically a legal monopoly, as most cities had just one major newspaper, meaning there was very little competition for advertising dollars. Then, along came the Internet. The local newspaper business died out as people got their news from the Internet, which cratered subscriptions, which in turn cratered advertising revenue. These factors put the Washington Post on life support, and given the public's increasing distrust of the media, and today's announcement was not surprising. Just as an example, I use X as my newspaper, following a variety of journalists from all over the country. X is my sports page, it is my front page. And it is free. We take it for granted today, but 30 years ago, this was barely a dream.

Gillette pioneered the "razor blade model" of business, giving it a dominant market share in that business. The company hit on the idea that they could basically give away their razors and make money on the interchangeable blades, which consumers would have to buy over and over again. In addition, manufacturing razor blades was highly specialized, which also discouraged competition. But, in recent years, lower priced competitors have entered this space and Gillette has lost market share.

If I think about this too long, I am in a state of disbelief. Thirty years ago, the greatest stock market investor of all-time basically declared that these four companies were the very best investments in the world. Today, his beloved Washington Post is on life support. Capital Cities/ABC (now a part of Disney) is nothing to write home about. Gillette and Coca-Cola are just fair to middlin' companies. What happened? The world changed and these companies did not change with it. You can never rest on your laurels in this big, bad world. Finally, do not weep for Mr. Buffet. He made many millions on the sale of these companies, and he still owns his full stake in Coca-Cola.