Lessons I learnt at School . . .

Lord of the Flies!

The poor soul who tried to teach us English struggled to get us to see wider than the words as we worked through William Golding's 'Lord of the Flies' and although I still wonder what Ralph thought when he saw Piggy's body, I think my teacher did a good job.

The word's of Lord Acton, which my teacher droned on about (endlessly), and also added to obviously stuck. "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely, so we need to be careful in how we control the power we have!" His warnings about how the book taught us regarding "The thin veneer of civilisation which separates from the natives," ring true, especially as I watch the news following Bin Laden's death.

Seeing people waving the headlines:

Did nothing to convince me that what many were about was revenge of the most distasteful kind.

Meanwhile elsewhere, images were shown of images of Bin Laden being kissed and him being mourned over:

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction (Thanks Isaac) and one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter (unless we build bridges and convince him otherwise).

What we need now is to not gloat triumphantly, but to understand that Bin Laden has reaped the harvest of his wickedness, and perhaps to hope that we won't reap ours (before God, not at the hands of man).

I was blessed and touched to see one man at the site of the WTC with this placard:

He echoes my sentiments completely. We need peace, not revenge, not cries of vengeance (isn't that what brought Bin Laden here?).

We need to look at ways of bringing peace and justice to our world, not seeking to settle scores and not believing in the power that we, or our nations, hold. For it is folly to believe we can achieve anything, that we are all powerful and can conqueror all before us, only God can claim that. Only God can live up to that billing.

Let's pray that the dust settles and that those who might seek to bring their own brand of retribution have their hands stayed.

Justice - Mercy - Humility, this is the way that true power is handled, this is the means by which everything can be achieved and walls broken down.

Pax

Osama Bin Laden Dead

Today's news that Osama Bin Laden has been killed (and his body taken possession of so that there is no doubt it is him) in Pakistan by US forces is a triumph for retribution and justice. It is an act of revenge for the Twin Towers and the lives lost and spmething that will undoubtedly win Obama approval points.

What it will do for Pakistan, a nation who has been accused of hiding Bin Laden and training terrorists. What it will do for those who engage in terror and what backlash it might bring, remains to be seen.

Beyond the triumphalism the reality is that we need to be praying for:

+ Our forces on the ground in Afghanistan (and for all those engaged in military, NGO and charitable efforts there),

+ The nation of Pakistan, where for many Bin Laden was a hero, that the rule of law and peace is maintained,

+ For the peace of the world, that men will dialogue rather than destroy, build up rather than break down.

Those who live by the sword, die by the sword and the death of Bin Laden (and his son) demonstrates the reality of hatred - death. A good operation by the US apparently well done.

Please pray - this is more than a headline, it's potentially a lighting of a touchpaper as some will look to respond with wicked acts whilst (undoubtedly) others will seek to make capital out of it for their skewed theologies and distasteful utterances.

A time to remember those who have lost their lives and think of their friends and families rather than celebrate the loss of another life.

Pax