Kindness to an Enemy
A slave who had risen by the force of sterling worth in the confidence of his master saw one day, trembling in the slave market, a negro whose gray head and bent form showed him to be in the last weakness of old age. He implored his master to purchase him. He expressed surprise, but consented to buy the old man. So he was conveyed to the estate. When there, he who had pleaded for him took him to his own cabin, placed him on his own bed, fed him at his own board, gave him water from his own cup; when he shivered, carried him into the sunshine; when he drooped in the heat, bore him softly to the shade. “What is the meaning of all this?” asked a witness. “Is he your father?” ‘No.” “Is he your brother?” “No.” “Is he, then, your friend?” “No; he is my enemy. Years ago he stole me from my native village, and sold me for a slave; and the good Lord has said, ‘If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink, for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.’”
We can say this of our blessed Lord: ―
“What man of greater love can boast,
Than for his friend to die;
Thou for Thine enemies wast slain,
What love with Thine can vie?”