My thoughts on the death of Osama bin Laden...

Today I really don’t know how to feel about the death of Osama bin Laden.

On one hand as a veteran and an American I am proud of my brothers in arms for successfully accomplishing the mission without great loss of human life. Our government and military set a goal and achieved it; in a conflict that has been short on victories this is a big morale boost. But, it should also not be seen as the end of the war on terrorism, but rather the start of a whole new phase to the conflict.

Now on the other hand I think that I am... saddened by the scenes of jubilee at Ground Zero and in front of the White House this morning and in the words of every person who rejoiced in the news. To see people cheering the death of anyone is abhorrent.

I would venture a guess that most of the people celebrating his death, would self identify themselves as Christians. Cheering the death of Osama bin Laden is most certainly against the teachings of Christ and the Bible…

Matthew 5: 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

Luke 6: 27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

Proverbs 24: 17 Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice, 18 or the LORD will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from them.

Obadiah 1: 12 You should not gloat over your brother in the day of his misfortune, nor rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their destruction, nor boast so much in the day of their trouble.

1 Corinthians 13: 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Psalm 85: 10 Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other. 11 Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven.

John 15: 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

Romans 13: 8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

1 Thessalonians 3: 12 May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. 13 May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.

1 Thessalonians 4: 9 Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.

1 Peter 4: 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

1 John 3: 14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 15 Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.

Exodus 20: 13 You shall not murder.

Deuteronomy 5:17 You shall not murder.

I could continue to quote scripture… but it doesn’t mean anything if we don’t live it. Our lives must be a reflection of our beliefs and we, America, are better than this. If it is true the OBL was unarmed when he was cornered, than this is even more abhorrent. A trial may not have healed anything, but the right to a trial is what separates the civilized from the not, those with class from the classless and the righteous from the murderers…

So tonight I pray that we find a way to walk in love as Christ loved us; I pray for our world, our nation and our military; I pray for the lives effected by the actions and words of Osama bin Laden; I pray for his family as they mourn their loss; I pray for our losses and for our healing as we move forward… and I pray for peace for all. Amen

Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.


P.S. I know I am on a soapbox and I know this isn't thoroughly thought out... but is just seemed worth saying.

Lenten Musings... Day 8

So yesterday my Ember day letter to +Cate took priority over this, but back into it now...

God's dream wants us to be brothers and sisters, wants us to be family. (G.H.a.D. Tutu, pg. 21)

What would it mean for you to see everyone around you as brother or sister? How would you treat them differently? What keeps you from welcoming them into your family? As you see people in the street, and opinions, judgments, and prejudices leap to mind, can you see them as not this or that, but as a child of God, as your brother and sister?

I really do try to see everyone as a brother or sister, as someone who is a child of God.

It really bothers me sometimes that I don't have more to give to charity or to the homeless, because what if I just denied Christ because I gave my leftovers from dinner to the person before him. Or if I was on my phone and didn't have time to offer directions or help.

I think having empathy towards the plight of the world is a start and if we stand with our brothers and sisters that we can potentially turn that empathy into really helping each other.

Lenten Musings... Day 6

Through a Dayquil induced haze I am going to try and write this one, judge lightly please...

"It is this fact that we were created to be free that is the reason that all oppression must ultimately fail. Our freedom does not come from any human being--our freedom comes from God.... People are made for it just as plants tend toward the light and toward water." (G.H.a.D. Tutu, pg. 14-15)

There are people throughout our world who are still struggling for freedom. Do you have faith in their victory? Do you pray for them with confidence? What can you and your community do to help them to be free, to be fully human?

Yes. It will take time and lives will be lost, but ultimately freedom will prevail. My prayers are confident, but cautious as I attempt to discern God's will through the turmoil. Freedom must come from God, not from human desires to replace one dictator with another. I really have no idea, what to do with the situation in Libya or Bahrain, I am not sure how to help without being seen as a Western interloper causing more problems. With the slavery situation in the world, I saw a number the other day estimating the number of slaves still in the world it was shocking, we can inform ourselves, then inform others, then approach the issue together. God does bring freedom, but sometimes God asks us to take up our cross and follow his lead...

Lenten Musings... Day 5

"Our ability to do evil is part and parcel of our responsibility to do good. One is meaningless without the other. Empathy and compassion have no meaning unless they occur in a situation where one could be callous and indifferent to the suffering of others. To have any possibility of moral growth there has to be the possibility of becoming immoral." (G.H.a.D. Tutu, pg. 13)

When have you shown empathy and compassion when you could have been callous and indifferent? When were you callous and indifferent? When could you have been more loving to a family member or friend?

Maybe this is cheating, but there are somethings that I am not ready to share on the internet, so trust that I have prayed and thought about this... Have a Blessed day!

Lenten Musings... Day 4

So there wasn't a day three due to the observance of a digital sabbath, which was very nice there were some times though that I definitely wanted to check my email or Facebook.

"Many people believe that they are beyond God's love.... God's love is not cut off from anyone. However diabolical the act, it does not turn the perpetrator into a demon. When we proclaim that someone is subhuman, we not only remove for them the possibility of change and repentance, we also remove from them moral responsibility." (G.H.a.D. Tutu, pg. 10-11)

Are there things about you or things you have done that you sometimes believe make you unlovable? Are there things that others have done to you that you think make them unlovable to God? Can you see them as God does, with love, as precious, as his children?

There were... there was a time when I couldn't go to church after I got home from Iraq. I just knew that my actions over there had removed me from God's love, it took a couple of months of a lot of personal struggle and pain, before I let myself be forgiven by God. I was very lucky to have a Priest who showed me that I wasn't beyond God's love or forgiveness. At this point I really have forgiven the people who tried to kill me and my Soldiers, there is far too much evil in this world for me to hold onto hate. I struggle at times and the pain of friends lost is heavy to bear, but we are all God's children and we need to treat each other as such.

Lenten Musings... Day 2

"God marvelously, miraculously cares about each and every one of us.... And so God says to you, "I love you. You are precious in your fragility and your vulnerability. Your being is a gift." (G.H.a.D, Tutu pg. 8-9)

Do you feel God's love for you? Where do you feel fragile and vulnerable in your life? How would you live differently if you felt that God truly cared about you and loved you and that your life was a gift to you and the world?


Yes, I do!

I still feel at times like I am not good enough for the life and call that God has set before me. That does weigh on my heart at times, but I know and trust that God will equip me with what I need and give me the experiences that will shape me into the Priest that He is calling me to be.

My feelings do not make me doubt God's love, so I believe that my life is a gift to me and I try to treat it as a gift to the world.

Lenten Musings... Day 1

So I really enjoyed Archbishop Tutu's book 'God Has a Dream' so as part of Lent this year I decided that each day I would pray and write about one of the study questions in the back of the book each day.

So here we go...

"This is a moral universe, which means that, despite all the evidence that seems to be to the contrary, there is no way that evil and injustice and oppression and lies can have the last word." (G.H.a.D. Tutu p.2)

Do you believe in this statement? If so, what supports your belief? If not, what calls it into question?

Yes, I do.

I have seen evil in the streets of the Middle East first hand, but I have also shared a meal in the homes of people who didn't know me as anything other than a US Soldier in their country. There were times of enjoying ice cream, flying a kite and kicking a soccer ball around that shined through all the turmoil.

As the people of Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain and Libya have taken to the streets over the last few weeks, we have seen that grassroots efforts can bring about discussion and eventually change, casting off the yokes of oppression.

In my life thus far, I have seen no greater emotion than love. Love can deliver in the darkest of hours. Love can safe in the bleakest situations. Love will win over hate...