1 John 2:9-11

"He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.
He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.
But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes."
1 John 2:9-11


Here we are at the light and darkness theme again... and I think that this is a really good example of how we blind ourselves sometimes.  We can be praying, reading our scriptures... attending church... and think that we are doing pretty well.  But if we have hatred in our hearts, then we're really sabotaging our own efforts.  And, really... we aren't seeing reality.  If you could see into the souls of the people around you, do you think that any of them would be unlovable?  Every person on this earth has something good inside.  Something good to offer.  And everyone has something bad inside too... something they need to clean out of themselves.  If we focus on the bad parts, then we'll never have good relationships with anyone.  If we focus on the good parts, then we can learn from anyone around us, and help them as well.  We're all in this together... this test of life.  If we help each other, maybe we'll do better on the test then we could do individually.  And... maybe it is *part* of the test. :)  So, lets not darken ourselves with hatred... but see clearly in the light of love.  See the true goodness in the people around you, and try to draw it out.