Oh, for Stirrings and Softenings!

By Rhiannonw

Fri, 09 Jan 2026
  • 593 reads
11 comments
 

Could there be some stirring
in those hearts of hate
those hearts as hard as slate,
so cold?
Could glimmers of care and love
begin, unfold,
and ancient wrongs of long ago
put to one side –
for bitter vengeance often lands
so wide of where intended –
provokes responding anger and return
– could they begin to learn
that “It is mine to avenge.”
says the Lord – no other
can assess and knows the essence
of the matter to
give just fair sentence,
or reform.
Defense against attack must be
but hitting back
in anger will just escalate
provoke unhappiness, injustice,
more, more hate … …

[IP: stirring]

cf “I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezezkiel 36:26

Certificate U
Poem
Christian, Biblical
Philosophy
Love
Inspiration Point (work that responds to our weekly writing cue)

Comments

Submitted by Tom Brown on

An eye for an eye only makes things worse ever, revenge achieves nothing, and it never brings healing, as the Lord says, "vengeance is mine".

Rhiannon do you know the poem "The poison tree" by William Blake?"

All the best! Tom

 

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

Thank you, Tom. No, I had not heard of that, thank you for mentioning it. So often, also, other people than the perpetrators get hurt and so are inclined to vengeance themselves, and so the sad escalation with no benefit to any. Rhiannon

 

Submitted by Tom Brown on

What you say is very true, in the movies I think they speak of “collateral damage” and a lot of that going on in the world with ruthless and reckless and very powerful rulers apparantly speaking and acting completely unrestrained and doing just as they please.

It wasn't supposed to happen like that. One shudders what it holds in for the future.

Keep well. Tom

 

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

Individuals can be reckless and try to take the law into their own hands, and misjudge and trigger others' anger too. And in war situations, many 'innocent' get hurt and deep grievences form, but personal attempts at vengeance cause havoc. 

But how wonderful when hearts are softened to do good in the world! Rhiannon

 

Submitted by Turlough on

When I hear people talking about hatred and revenge I usually remind them of these words of Mahatma Gandhi's...

An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.

And those people who cannot see this must already be blind.

However, it's wrong to take no action at all where government policy has become brutality, so I was pleased to hear about the peaceful demonstrations in the streets of Minneapolis yesterday.

Turlough

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

Thank you, an interesting and memorable quote. To try to do good to those who hate you is much more productive!

We can be glad that we are able to still demonstrate peaceably, when we feel goverments are wrong. But  have to remember that governments have to enforce order, so to be careful of provoking them, for individuals may be impulsive or hasty. Rhiannon

 

Submitted by Tom Brown on

Yes and Martin Luther King said darkness can never drive out darkness, only light can, And hate cannot drive out hate, only love can drive out hate.

See you! Tom

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Thank You for this wise IP response Rhiannon. That's a clever idea of hatred being cold, prejudice frozen in, and hearts need to become warm, to gain the fluidity of tolerance

is there a typo here?

"in amger will just escalate"

 

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

Thank you, and for the typo – my eyes are weaker now!

Hardness closes the awareness of one's own failings also, and that hatred damages oneself, and doesn't soften the enemy, and often hits out at 'innoncent' targets, so stirring more anger etc. I've been thinking about Narnia for tomorrow, and the thawing that Aslan brought, like the softening of hearts needed!

Rhiannon

 

Submitted by Frances Macaula... on

For those of us so far away, seeing the pain and suffering... futility is heart-breaking.

Thank you for your words.  I have hope that 2026 will bring peace to some if not all...

Soundcloud:  https://soundcloud.com/search?q=FrancesMF

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

Yes, thank you. And praying for individuals caught up in it all such situations, as well as the big picture. Many are helped unknown to us, in awful situations, and drawn to prayer for the first time. Rhiannon