The Deacon's Bench
Jim Tighe, a deacon candidate whose brother died on 9/11, offers a very personal, prayerful response to the bin Laden news:
As a disciple of Christ, my life is given to his work. It is the work of bringing people into the light, not condemning them to the darkness. Osama Bin Laden was always easy to condemn into the darkness. On this issue, it is easier to go with the Philadelphia headline “Got the Bastard,” then it is to follow the words of Christ. But I’m going with Christ. This is, as best we know, a lost soul. Nothing to cheer about. That’s not what we do.
This is no way a defense of the man. He chose to live in the darkness. Any condemnation comes not from God but from his own choosing, just like the rest of us. He got what he chose, life in the darkness.
When Christ wept for Lazarus, I’m betting he wept for Bin Laden and people like him as well as for all of us who ultimately face death. I bet he wept for them because of the terrible pain caused by their own choice to remain in the darkness. Do I feel a change now that my brother’s murderer has been found? Yes, but it’s not that false “closure” stuff, but rather a deeper look at my own life and the light and darkness within.
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