The fragrance of new life softly whispered through our battered and war-weary world yesterday, tripping gently on the heels of the death of the world's most marauding pirate.
The late terrorist had held the world captive in fear, steeped in darkness, as the world teetered in economic collapse due to multi-billion dollar military operatives, crushing perhaps most of all the hope for a better future for our young.
But yesterday the world woke up to a new hope. The light dawned on a new age opening before us.
Yes, "the wicked witch is dead," I thought as words from the Oz circled in my head when I heard the news of bin Laden's death. He had held us all captive. It was an all-pervading dim fear, a palatable darkness, an uncertain future for the United States and the world.
Since 9/11 our economy had fallen, people had somehow adjusted to living in fear, stripped at airports, not sure if we would survive the decade. Today the news of his death brings a new hope. Maybe the troops will come home from Afghanistan. Maybe the dictators in the Middle East will wake up and step down and give the reigns of power to their people, where it should be. The world is waking up quickly to a new era. The old is gone as this "brave new world" is blinking open before us. (The Tempest, Act 5, Scene 1, Wm. Shakespeare).
Yes, "the wicked witch is dead," I thought as words from the Oz circled in my head when I heard the news of bin Laden's death. He had held us all captive. It was an all-pervading dim fear, a palatable darkness, an uncertain future for the United States and the world.
Since 9/11 our economy had fallen, people had somehow adjusted to living in fear, stripped at airports, not sure if we would survive the decade. Today the news of his death brings a new hope. Maybe the troops will come home from Afghanistan. Maybe the dictators in the Middle East will wake up and step down and give the reigns of power to their people, where it should be. The world is waking up quickly to a new era. The old is gone as this "brave new world" is blinking open before us. (The Tempest, Act 5, Scene 1, Wm. Shakespeare).
Nothing the U.S. military does can ever put the heads back on those who were tortuously beheaded by al Qaeda, especially Daniel Pearl, the
Nothing can bring life back to those countless many who were brutally tortured and slaughtered by the terrorist organization led by the world's most heinous human being.
Yet, yesterday morning's news does bring the world respite, an end of our long stormy decade of horror. The world survived because we walked these tempestuous years together, first weeping in grief, then in agony and fear and finally in faith and have won the victory over a most insidious oppressor. In this new day, we have breathed the last of the stench of bin Laden's worldwide network of terror. That night is over and we have together rediscovered how precious life is.
We came together - nation after nation - to rally for peace, for democracy, for justice. We as a world suffered and walked together, hand in hand bravely into the night of our former age, courageously and patiently and persistently reaching for the light of this new age, which dawned as the body of bin laden slipped into the depths of the Arabian Sea, calming the tempest of our times at last.
What a wonderfully balanced perspective! Evil does become personified and this entire situation validates that possibility. While I hope that the world becomes better and safer with the death of this terrorist leader, I also lament a human life, gone astray and bringing such destruction and chaos to so many people. I mourn for all those soldiers killed in this 10 year battle and I also mourn for all those Muslims who also suffered physically as well as mentally by association because of Bin Laden's perverse ways. The ancient image emerges, darkness has been conquered so that light may shine upon us!
ReplyDelete