Face of Christ by Claude Mellan, via Wikimedia Commons
Jesus, you tell us to ‘turn the other cheek’
and we hope it’s hyperbole
or intended for another time or place.
But your actions inform us otherwise.
You do not ask us to be doormats to the violent
merely bowing in abject submission,
but instead to stand with dignity
looking our oppressors in the eye
challenging them
to expose their injustice and inhumanity
by inflicting another gratuitous blow.
Your kind of resistance transforms
by initiating the possibility of reconciliation.
Give us wisdom God; this command is hard!
Help us to know when you stand with us
to turn the other cheek
and when to flee.
after Michael Pahl, Canadian Mennonite pastor and theologian
______________________
You have heard that it was said,
‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’
But I tell you, do not resist an evil person.
If anyone slaps you on the right cheek,
turn to them the other cheek also.
prayer & verse 
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