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Oh, Osama
This morning's news headlines brought word of a new video of Osama bin Laden that has been posted on the internet. I didn't seek it out nor did I watch it. I didn't need to. The press had done it for me.
What I did instead was conjure up an image of dear Osama--not exactly hard to do--and I prayed with him. He's the general of an armed militia and he and his men need prayer.
During that quiet time, Osama seemed to me to get younger and younger until I realized what my praying heart had been asking. When did he learn to hate? He was very young when he learned to hate. He learned it from someone who hated, so did he, so did he, back into eternity.
I found myself repeating one word to Osama at every age: Salaam. It's the only word of Arabic I know, and it means peace. Bless his heart, dear one, it's what he needs. Bless his heart with peace, any and every time you think of him and his team. Maybe if we all do it, he'll finally see.
The opposite of peace isn't war. It's hate.
Osama, you might consider a look at these words of one of the world's greatest generals, Dwight D. Eisenhower. He wrote, "Though force can protect in an emergency, only justice, fairness, consideration and cooperation can finally lead men to the dawn of eternal peace."
Salaam, Osama. Salaam.
Thank you for this perspective. It provides a good link to bring together what we have made into opposing camps of "good and evil". It seems we need efforts towards connections, understanding and dialogue. Most often these days we get the message that "one side as good, the other as bad". Your suggestion of prayer and visualization of the humanness of "Other" is one way to start and support the hard work of actualizing what we say we want: a unified world. (Anne Thomas, Japan)
posted by Anne Thomas on 7/16/2007 9:41 pm