I wonder if the current confused and tense atmosphere that
seems to colour so many domains of life, is the consequence of a key event that
has destabilized so many people, particularly in North America and the Middle East.
I am thinking about what is now referred to as Nine Eleven. It happened on
September 11, 2001, the day that the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon
were hit by aircraft that caused the tragic deaths of many people and evoked an
aggressive response of vengeance from the American government.
When faced with this kind of injustice, it is normal to
want to fight back and see that justice is done, but I wonder if in the long
term a different response might have been more effective, and the world might
be less fractured and fragile today and could have been better equipped to deal
with a global pandemic.
When immediately following Nine Eleven, I heard the frantic calls for arming to combat the Enemy who was responsible for this tragedy, I had a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach that this was not the best way to move forward. Yet, I heard nobody objecting to the hue and cry for vengeance, so I thought that I must be the one who was totally out of step with reality. Maybe that is the case. Nevertheless, I feel that I must express what I think would have a much more reasonable way to handle the situation and might have in the final analysis produced some positive results.
Just image with me for a moment what would have happened if
the President of the United States had made some comments like this: “Today, we acknowledge the terrible things
that have been done and the needless suffering and sorrow that has resulted from
these horrible actions. We grieve and lament with those who are the victims of
such violence. Nevertheless, we consider ourselves a Christian nation and for
that reason, how we respond is not with a flexing our military power and
bringing out our strongest weapons to retaliate and see that justice is done.”
“We follow One who was willing to Himself bear all
injustice and evil, all that we call sin, so that we could enter into a
relationship with our loving Heavenly Father, whose greatest desire is for all
of us to know His love and forgiveness. Because we receive forgiven for the
wrongs that we have done, we are choosing to forgive you for the wrongs that
you have done to us. Our desire is for you to discover the Way of Love, the Way
that we have chosen to follow as we follow Jesus Christ. That is what it means
for us to be Christian.”
“We believe that it is not our place to see that vengeance is
meted out to those who have done wrong. Our God tells us that He will see that
justice is done and that if vengeance is needed, He will see that it takes
place according to His perfect plans.”
Such speaking would reflect an attitude of trust in
God, not a trust in our own wisdom and power. That is why a cross and not a
sword is the symbol of our faith.
While this example is perhaps the most obvious, in whatever
country we live today, we are seeing a turning to violence and hatred to deal
with whatever we feel is unjust. To my mind these attitudes are an affront to and
a denial of our Christian faith. I suspect that Jesus weeps with us as He sees
the way that we treat one another. Echoing in our hearts and minds come His
concluding words to His followers, according to John, who knew Him well. “The
world will know that you are Mine by the love to show to one another.” Love is
willing to pay the price of forgiveness.
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