Hate Is To Great A Burden To Bear

Something I’m thinking about a lot lately—

Hate is exhausting.

Casting blame, villainizing others, stoking anger, creating division—it all takes so much WORK.

Just like it takes more muscles to frown than smile.

Martin Luther King, Jr. said it best when he explained, “I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”

Hate is not worth the price to me. It is not worth the weight on my heart or conscience.

I never want to be a person who clings to anger so fiercely.

I never want to be so hardened and callous that I can’t meet someone with respect and dignity.

I never want to be so jaded or cynical that I can’t offer grace or empathy.

I never want to be someone who harbors disdain or lets a grudge blind me.

Hate is exhausting.

Physically, mentally, emotionally.

I would much rather have love in my heart and peace in my soul.

Love doesn’t mean weakness or naivety, but believing in the inherent goodness of others.

Peace doesn’t mean being resigned to the status quo or ignoring reality, but staying true to convictions, and holding tight to integrity.

It means choosing to respond, not react.

It means not falling for the traps that are set to keep us perpetually enraged.

It means refusing to waste precious time arguing with strangers on the internet.

It means steering clear of rhetoric that scapegoats, generalizes, or dehumanizes.

It means living your values with intention and leading by example.

I hope you find ways to protect your peace this week, and for the foreseeable future.

And I hope you lean hard into love.

Because hate is just too great a burden to bear.