Monday, May 2, 2011

Mixed Feelings

I watched Obama's address last night with mixed feelings. Yes, I am typically a very patriotic person. I chant USA! with the best of them. I had a hard time, though, rejoicing over bin Laden's death. I have anger about 9-11, of course. I hate that so many families lost loved ones and have felt those longings for justice and even revenge over the past few years. I have had a hard time putting my feelings into words today, but I think that something I heard on the radio this afternoon says it best:

(I in no way claim to have mastered this type of disciplined thinking.)

 " Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction. So when Jesus says "Love your enemies," he is setting forth a profound and ultimately inescapable admonition. ... The chain reaction of evil — hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars — must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation." ~Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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