You're listening to Encounter, a simple daily podcast of sacred and mindful meditations

to help you encounter the divine presence of God all throughout your day.

If you want to have free access to the entire library of 500 meditations, I encourage

you to download the Encountering Peace app where all the meditations are free as they should be.

Have you ever heard of Richard Rowland Kirkland? Well, he was a Confederate soldier during the

American Civil War. And on December 13, 1862, Kirkland's unit had formed at the Stonewall,

the base of a hill near Fredericksburg, Virginia, for what would be one of the bloodiest battles

of the war. By the end of the day, more than 8,000 soldiers lay dead or dying in front of the

Stonewall at Mary's Heights. Soldiers from both sides listened all night to the cries of the wounded,

with neither side willing to move for fear of being shot by the opposing enemy. None except Kirkland.

He gathered up all of the water, blankets and supplies he could find, and carried them onto the

battlefield to care for those in need. The needs of both the Union and Confederate soldiers alike.

Both sides watched, but no one fired a shot. They watched as he set aside his own care

to care for the needs of others on both sides of the battle. Both his own unit and his enemies

would come to call him the angel of Mary's Heights. This meditation from Luke 6 is a reflection

on a new kind of love, caring for others regardless of how or whether they care for you.

Is that hard for you to do? Well, of course it is, but you're in the right place at the right time

to reflect and help you endure. Having a mind transformed into that of Christ and discovering

a new kind of love, even for your enemies. So as you begin this meditation, begin to take an

inventory of your enemies, not their faces or what they've done, but your emotions, not who they are,

but the feelings you have towards them and allow those negative emotions to shift from

the secular to the sacred, from earthly distractions to the divine. It's peeling away anger or

...