What is it good for?

News is reporting that Osama Bin Laden has been killed tonight. I'm sitting in my bed listening to coverage online and waiting for President Obama to address the nation on the matter. My mind wanders as the news anchors tell us again and again that we will forever remember where we were when we heard this news. Does this make anything okay? How is this good news? Why is an entire country willing to celebrate the death of one man?

I realize the evils that Bin Laden has been responsible for. I understand that he founded the organization that executed the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in the US. I am not trying to glorify this man or condone any of his infamous actions. What he has done is horrific and disgusting and truly evil. But I believe in a God that redeems. I believe in a God that came to Earth and died a horrific death on a cross so that we would not have to die for our own evil and so that we can live with Him in heaven and sent His Spirit to live with us here on Earth. This God is bigger than all of our sins. He has Grace and Love for every single person that has ever lived. I can't understand the scope of this Love, how it works with us through all things and constantly draws us back to God.

At this point, I don't have a lot of answers to my own questions, but I refuse to celebrate death. It is bold, to put it kindly, to claim that justice has been served in the killing of an individual. I guess one of the largest underlying questions I have is would God kill for justice? I know that this same Loving and Graceful God is Just and I have read of His Wrath being manifested among people on Earth in the bible. Based on some of this reading, it appears that God does enact Justice through killing. This is another thing about God that I can't understand. Apparently He can work big things out even through killing. But it is still a brash statement to invoke this Justice on our own actions. Again, I have no solid answers here, this is just my thinking and it is subject to change without notice. I would love to hear your thoughts on this matter as well.

From a more practical standpoint, it seems naive to assume that this will make anything better. We have known for some time that Bin Laden has not been heavily involved in the leadership of Al-Qaeda or the Taliban for the past few years. His death will only stir more violence. I'm glad to see the increase in national security, and I will pray for our troops during this chaotic time. It's important to remember that Bin Laden's death will not bring back any of the people whose death he was responsible for.

I guess that's all I've got for now. It will be interesting to see how things continue to unfold.