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| Sunny Side Up Sept 19, 2001 � 2001, Kathleen Gibson Stateside tragedy a matter of the heart The way it was before Sept. 11,2001. The carnage in New York and Washington is still smoking, and thousands of homes will never greet a mommy or daddy, a son or daughter again. America reels like a stunned boxer after an opponent�s blow, and if I read the signs correctly, she�s winding up to send a bigger one back. Experts say the chance of war is significant. I steeped in the news coverage of last week�s tragedy for two days until finally, paralyzed by over-exposure, I left the house to walk on Logan Flats with my husband. We talked non-stop, glad to hear our own voices, to have the chance to explore our thoughts and sift them through the beliefs we both hold so firmly. We found more questions than answers. What is God�s opinion of all this? What eternal perspective is to be brought to these actions, and to our reactions? What wisdom do the words of Jesus give for days such as these? During that long walk in air suddenly chilled, with Canada geese flying in undulating vees overhead, we arrived at this thought�at the crux of this horror is the issue of the human heart. A heart that the prophet Jeremiah calls deceitful and desperately wicked; whether that heart pumps within the body of a religious extremist, an American capitalist, or this Canadian columnist. As a nation who takes pride in the peace we maintain, we are horrified by the monumental scope of the recent tragedy. But put the smaller acts of petty unkindnesses, performed daily in our homes and workplaces, under the microscope of truth and you�ll find the same common denominators: the need to be in control, to exercise power over circumstances and people who have the gall to think and be different than ourselves. The seeds of war germinate first in the heart. Jesus knew that the desire to even the score for hurts sits heavy there. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. It was the old way. It�s why he proposed a new course of action more radical than anything I�ve heard suggested by any expert voice, military or political. You likely won�t hear it either. In the face of today�s critical issues, his words seem ludicrous. Jesus didn�t say that crime should go unpunished. He didn�t say that criminals should not be apprehended and brought to justice. And he never said that a country shouldn�t defend its borders. But to a people who had for centuries been bloodied by conflict he said: Forgive your enemies. It�s the thing that makes Christianity unique. Forgiveness. Only refusing to pay back�an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth�will halt the vitriolic cycle that has robbed so many homes of innocent children, mothers, and fathers. Our world has its feet so tangled in snarled webs of power I don�t know that it can ever walk straight again. But I do know this�only forgiveness will free our hearts. You can respond to this column at [email protected] |
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