Summary: Walking through the woods in winter, it is easy to spot mistletoe. It sits in splendor on lofty branches high in an elm's canopy. After all the leaves have fallen and the woods have turned to grey, the mistletoe offers white berries and shiny green leaves like a Siren's song to those wandering beneath her. It is no wonder that all kinds of myths and legends have been written about mistletoe. Mysterious and vulnerable, she hovers above in glory offering plenty of room for those of us below her to judge her - both for her beauty and her poison. People have shot mistletoe down with BB guns and climbed dangerously high just to capture her twigs. Bound in ribbon and tied under a doorway, she emboldens those who stand beneath her to await a kiss. One legend declares that the dangerous fruit of mistletoe was used to poison the arrow of an enemy of the goddess of love in order to kill her son. Weeping tears on the deadly arrow, the goddess cast a spell over mistletoe promising all who passed beneath her to be given a kiss. Mistletoe is a good symbol for the absorption that we give an enemy. We build enemies into mythical proportions, then lose sight of the path. Maybe, we think, if we could control our enemies similar to the way we treat mistletoe - cut them down, bind them, or use them for our own purpose - maybe, just maybe, we will gain control of our lives and have the power we think we deserve. Enemies draw us in, and we create myths about them to warrant our contempt. By giving so much power to an enemy, we create legends, give them space in our minds, and allow them to even step into our sacred dream world. When our enemies become our focus, they can obscure our path so we can't see the tree for the proverbial mistletoe and surely lose site of the forest. Walking through the woods, we can always find mistletoe atop oaks, pines, and elms. By viewing and loving mistletoe as part of creation, we can honor it for what it is. We can turn our eyes back to the path in front of us and not be blind to all the amazing gifts of the woods. Mistletoe reminds us that by loving each and every part of creation, both the good and the bad, we are able to keep walking down a sacred path. Loving our enemies is our saving grace.
