"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that." -Martin Luther King, Jr.
It's hard to believe that I was introduced to the name Bin Laden almost ten years ago. The media taught us to hate him, fear him, disdain him, what have you, for nearly half of my life. Perhaps rightly so because his acts were abominable and certainly condemnable. As a child, I felt queasy at the thought of a man who may have been celebrating on the other side of the world when people were forced to jump to their deaths, valiant firemen were trapped in the smoking rubble, and the rest of the world was shrouded by the cloud of darkness that followed the toppling of the twin towers. I remember 9/11 so clearly and so did everyone else who recounted the horrors so vividly at breakfast this morning. I still recall finding my mom and brother waiting for me in the tiny elementary school gym that afternoon when I usually walked home. And it still strikes me as strange to see that day printed in school textbooks...is this fresh memory of mine already becoming a part of the yellowing pages of old history books?
And today the news of his death. I stared at the headlines and had a flashback of 9/11.
I celebrate justice. We humans were meant to crave justice and I saw that so clearly when following the news today. At the same time, the rowdy hoorahs are not going to change what has already happened. So is all the pomp really necessary? Something about these overdone celebrations irk me...there's something deep in the pit of my stomach, and I feel queasy again. Yes, that queasy feeling I got ten years ago when a man across the globe may have been celebrating the violent end of many others.
"Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles, lest the Lord see it and be displeased, and turn away his anger from him." -Proverbs 24:17-18
Though I find it hard to pump my fist into the air and shout our nation's anthem today, I mainly find myself relieved--relieved to know a God who stands for justice but who is equally brimming with mercy and grace.
Today's events definitely shed greater light on my Father today and I am thankful for that. Because while we humans trample on and celebrate the death of an enemy, I serve a God who would die for His.
That enemy once being me.
And with that being said, I am at a loss for words.
