Has justice been served?

So Bin Laden is gone.  America, and perhaps others, celebrates.  He was a symbol of unseen hate, a kind of hidden volcano that could erupt any time, anywhere, causing destruction, loss and grief.  That particular symbol is gone.  Yet, until we find how to make peace work, others will replace him. 

So what is the Christian demand?  As difficult as it may seem, it's individual forgiveness.  Not forgiving the hate or the destruction of innocents, but forgiving my own belief that there is something other than the man that God conceived, created, and loved.

Thanks to Facebook friends for their thoughtful reminders, gathered below.

"Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me your forgiveness.And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness, any more than on our goodness that the world's healing hinges, but on His. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives along with the command, the love itself." — Corrie Ten Boom

Each day I pray: 
"God bless my enemies; 
make them Thy friends;
give them to know the joy 
and the peace of love."
- Mary Baker Eddy

“Do not rejoice when your enemies fall, 
and do not let your heart be glad when they stumble.”
- Proverbs

"I have decided to stick with love. 
Hate is too great a burden to bear." 
— Martin Luther King Jr.

"If we have no peace, 
it is because we have forgotten
that we belong to each other." 
— Mother Teresa

"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives,
but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy." 
- Anonymous



"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.

And here is another idea for practical prayer shared by Christian Science lecturer, Dave Stevens.