I’m not the most prolific blogger, as you’ve surely noticed. Nor am I often, if ever, inclined to write about politics when I do blog. Mostly, I rant about things like, should “blog” really be both a noun and a verb?

But this morning, as I sit at my desk attempting to get into my work after a short weekend (worked all day Saturday), my mind and attention is continually drawn to the world’s biggest event of the day, one that will go down as one of the most significant events in history. And I feel that if I don’t get this out, I’ll be thinking about it all day, and I won’t be able to work. So here it is – you can either appreciate my catharsis, or ignore it – I’ll end up relieved either way.

Osama bin Laden is dead. Have you heard? If not, you’re probably like this guy from the Geico commercial who lives under a rock:

Do you live under a rock?

My first reaction was that of good ol’ fashioned Amerr-can patriotism. My heart swelled with red, white and blue pride, and I felt the nearly irresistible urge to hoot and holler, jump up with a mighty fist pump and break out into a random chorus of “God Bless the USA”.

Then, in a swift moment, my heart was saddened as I heard the news anchor indicate his “delight” to bring us this long-awaited news. And my mind stopped, as a car into a brick wall. Delight? Really? As in, squealing like little girls at a birthday party who just discovered that there is in fact a real pony in the back yard, that kind of delight? (I have daughters, forgive the analogy) And as I watched my friend’s reaction across Facebook – what a crazy development in society, to see this little window into the hearts and minds of hundreds of your acquaintances, in real time, without the benefit of reflection time – I saw quite a mix of reactions. Celebration. Glee. Joy. Patriotism. Cynicism. Skepticism. Sadness. Self-righteousness. Anger. (really!) And much more.

So with a night to sleep on it, and a brain that needs to release this before I can move on with the day, I offer my thoughts. Not all of them are original; I have some very thoughtful and otherwise wonderful friends who have expressed the same things I feel. I also will not claim all of them to be right, or myself to be the beacon of truth and justice in how to react – I only react the way I think is right based on what I believe and know to be true, and let that be that.

My first reaction was one of patriotic pride. For many Americans, I expect this to be the first and most sincere reaction, and without a worldview that requires viewing thoughts and events through a lens of Godliness and Biblical truth, it’s the reaction I expect to be taken to its fullest extreme. These are not the people to whom I’m referring in most of this piece. I’m more concerned with how we, as Christians, should respond.

I’m proud that our troops did their job. This job was remarkably hard to do – it took nearly ten years, and I choose to recognize the persistence and determination that ultimately led to a successful mission. I’m proud that the troops have done, and continue to do their jobs on a daily basis, in most cases with results far less newsworthy than this, but no less important. I recognize that the Bible teaches justice. That our God is ultimately a God of justice. It’s that justice that requires His infinite grace, because faced with justice alone, we are hopelessly damned. So in that light, it’s appropriate to feel satisfied in the delivery of a just conclusion. While I’m not convinced it is the case, my hope and prayer is that the soldiers involved, and our world by extension, are safer as a result.

That being said – the reaction I see of pure glee and unbridled joy at the death of the world’s #1 villain over the past decade is simply disgusting. Do we really believe in that mercy I spoke of earlier? Do we really believe that no matter what a person has done, God’s grace and mercy is sufficient, and that when He carried the sins of the entire world on his shoulders he meant EVERY SINGLE sin, and that given the opportunity, if he were to accept it, God would gladly give His grace and mercy and eternal life to even the most vile of criminals? Celebrating his death with joy and dancing communicates that we are glad a soul is in hell, eternally separated from God’s presence. It communicates that we are happy with his demise, and even if God could have and would have saved him, we’re relieved and satisfied that he DIDN’T.

That’s a dark place in our souls, indeed. Who among us wants to see bin Laden (or Stalin, Hitler, Saddam, et al) in heaven, worshipping at the feet of our God? As humans, we don’t. I certainly don’t. But as children of the living God, what greater joy than to see the darkest criminals come to Him, confessing that He is Lord?

So it’s a mixed bag, to be sure. Glad he’s gone? Yeah, I suppose I am. I’d be lying if I said otherwise. Happy he’s dead? I can’t bring myself to it. There’s just a nagging voice that keeps reminding me that while death is gain for those that know Him, death is the beginning of eternal separation from God for those who don’t. And that is not to be celebrated.

I won’t even bother to get into the quagmire of political ramifications – will he become a martyr to be rallied around? Will there be a clash of those taking credit (Bush started the hunt, he was found on Obama’s watch, blah blah)? Is the world really any safer? It’s an accomplishment, but doesn’t signal the end of the fight, right? I guess I’ll only leave with this – it’s the one sentence version of this really long post that I left on Facebook this morning: It’s a fine line between celebrating justice and celebrating the eternal death of a man’s soul. I pray we don’t cross it.