(310-314 ) Works of Love VIII The Victory of Reconciliation in Love Which Wins the Vanquished
To win one vanquished
When the good does vanquish evil
What then and has been gained?
The loser goes on as rival
And this struggle still remains
When we win a victory
We engage in intense strife
But to win someone lovingly
Is to engage in the gift of life
This cannot be an empty seduction
But done in a profound humility
The vanquished must feel no reduction
But enter the gain of reconciled tranquility
In this case the vanquished is more important
Than the one we might call the victor
To leave the vanquished crushed must be abhorrent
In losing they must feel the winner
That does not mean the evil was good
For those evil acts they have responsibility
When they know they were wrong in where they stood
It's then they can forgive their own culpability
We want the vanquished for the good and true
This eventuality is in no way humiliating
In this way, the vanquished can break through
And find their revelation is liberating
To win the vanquished through reconciliation
Means the victor has thereby surrendered
All thought of the glory of domination
For the love thereby engendered