First Reactions

The last 24 hours have been quite overwhelming with the news of the death of Osama Bin Laden. I was prompted to write this after reading an insightful blog. (check it out here) --> rachelheldevans.com The author asked the following question at the end:

What was your first reaction to the news of Osama Bin Laden’s death? What was your reaction upon further reflection?  

My first reaction was WHAT? Basically, I was was speechless. I sat there watching the crowds grow in front of the White House cheering and singing pro-American songs/anthems. Then all of a sudden I became emotional. I was like" Are these feelings of patriotism? No, I quickly realized it had stirred up my emotions of 9/11 from 10 years ago. It had caused me to remember that day. None of my friends or family were directly affected, but for whatever reason, it is still a bit hard for me today to even watch the memorials about it.

I saw a lot of posts on Facebook of people poking fun at it, cracking jokes about it, rejoicing about it.... it honestly made me feel uneasy. I'm not perfect by any means. Trust me, I have had more than my fair share of the taste of my foot in my mouth. But after ingesting a lot of information from TV and the Internet, my response to a friend's post on the Internet was this: "Like anyone, I want nothing more than for justice to be done. In the end I know and believe that God will bring justice to those who have gone against His will. To those who have committed crimes they might think they have gotten away with. This is an important development, but I'm uneasy right now about full out rejoicing. It is nice to see people coming together though..."  

I have learned some things about myself and others through this. Not all good and not all bad. In the end, I am thankful for God's love and forgiveness for me, a sinner. My friend Dan said it best, "I also do not fail to realize that in God's sovereignty Bin Laden's eternity is exactly as it should be. But by God's grace, mine would be the same...."

Hopefully you have had some time to reflect yourself. I'm a music person, so I tend to reflect on things with through the aid of a song. I went to bed listening to "Your Love is Strong" by Jon Foreman. Take a listen.

Your turn. What was and what is your reaction?