Dark Night of America’s Soul – Bin Laden’s death

I am glad that that bastard Osama Bin Laden is Dead!

It is not very Christian of me to say that.

An eye for an eye.

WWJD? (What would Jesus do?) I don’t know. He turned the other cheek and got killed by the state.

In the dark night of this nation’s soul, there seems to be a slight sliver of light, of hope, in this long chaotic morass of this new century and this new millennium. That sliver of light and hope lay in the death of a self proclaimed messiah of Islam.

Self appointed messiahs rarely succeed in the vision thing.

Divinely anointed messiahs are quite another story.

The man in the Arab and Muslim streets came no closer to moral, political or intellectual freedom under this Al-Qaeda world wide reign of terror. The turmoil in many Arab states these days reflects a desire for self determination and more freedom. The turmoil is also the result of the collapse of the dollar and the price of bread in those countries.

I, as a citizen of the United States, have very little control over world or military events let alone military budgets.

In the dark night of this nation’s spiritual soul, in its seemingly disrupted journey to moral excellence, it is hard to turn the cheek if we have a presence in 150 nations. Etc.

Perhaps out of all this political chaos comes a united global world or a more human world that fits into the vision of the Sermon on the Mount. “Blessed are they that …”

And still I am glad that that bastard Bin Laden has been served justice on a cold platter.

God forgive me.

I am only human and personally witnessed 911 here in New York City. Witnessed that event and witnessed, am witnessing the long journey of this city’s soul out of the depths of tragedy and back to something resembling normalcy.

It has been pointed out to me that celebrating the death of Bin Laden is wrong. I agree. Celebrating that death would indirectly celebrate his life – which was a poor example of simple local humanity or love of one’s global neighbor.

I also see the spontaneous outburst of joy on Sunday night in Times Square not as a celebration of death but more as a celebration as an event, a turning point, in an ever growing smaller world where everybody is truly your neighbor.

In any case I quote from the Hebrew testament for lack of my own words to match such eloquence.


Ecclesiastes 3:3-4

a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

Phoenix Rising - World Trade Center - NYC

 

( 911 Memorial - foreground - under construction )

[click on above photo to get expanded image]