9/11 and bin Laden: What is True Victory?

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. - Romans 12:21

I watched on the news as my fellow countryman celebrated a man being killed.  It left me with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.  True, he was a mass murderer.  True, he was probably planning future attacks on our country.  After 9/11, hearing all those stories of sacrifice, the way everyone united in an effort to help one another, I was proud to be an American.  But I was not on this day.  I thought of al Qaeda members who loved bin Laden watching the news of people celebrating his death.  What must they be feeling?  Our hate for that man will fuel their hate for us.  The world has not become a better place, on the contrary more hate has been sowed.  I think Gandhi may have put it best: An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.

Maybe I'm an idealistic fool, but I believe true victory would have looked something like this:

        

---------------------------------------------------------------------

        The towers fall.  The people come together to mourn.  A sense of togetherness envelops the nation.  Citizens pray for the victims and their families of the terrible tragedy. 

        And they pray for the terrorists.  They pray their hearts would be changed.  They pray for the orchestrator of the attacks, Osama bin Laden.  We seek out al Qaeda…to forgive them.  We want to tell them of our loss, how much it hurts, and we want to show them love.  We want to show them love because that is the only way to fight terror.  Love shames the enemy.  Members of al Qaeda begin coming out, admitting their crimes, admitting their wrongs.  The peace army of the United States of America embraces them, forgives them, and calls them brothers.  Ten years after the fateful attacks, all across the nation, the headline reads: OBAMA FORGIVES OSAMA.  Osama bin Laden comes out and finally admits he was wrong and pleads for forgiveness for his actions.  Obama and Osama eat together as brothers at a White House dinner.  The war on terror is over, love drove out the hate, light dispelled the darkness.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

I didn’t lose anybody close to me on 9/11.  I can’t imagine the pain some people went through on that day.  Maybe putting the word forgive and Osama in the same sentence makes you cringe, and maybe it should.  I think true forgiveness is supposed to be difficult.
While people celebrated bin Laden's death, I was encouraged by a quieter reaction going on.  I went onto Facebook and as I scrolled down, quotes from Martin Luther King, scripture verses, and the like lit up my screen.  It made me smile.  While the people celebrating on the streets may have gotten the news coverage, there were scores of others who went to quiet reflection and prayer.  It may not have been particularly newsworthy but the ways of love usually aren't.  If you are reading this, here's something you can do right now.  Pray for bin Laden's family.  Pray for members of al Qaeda, that God would work on their hearts.

But I say to you, love your enemies and bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you... - Jesus (Matthew 5:44)