Tag: Dietrich Bonhoeffer

John 20:19-31
Dietrich Bonhoeffer — “When a man takes guilt upon himself in responsibility, he imputes his guilt to himself and no one else.  He answers for it . . . Before other men he is justified by dire necessity; before himself he is acquitted by his conscience, but before God he hopes only for grace.” – Ethics

“There is hardly anything that can make one happier than to feel that one counts for something with other people.  What matters here is not numbers, but intensity.  In the long run, human relationships are the most important thing in life;  the modern ‘efficient’ man can do nothing about human relationships.  God uses us in his dealings with others.  Everything else is very close to hybris.  Of course, one can cultivate human relationships all to consciously in an attempt to mean something to other people . . . ” — Letters and Papers from Prison
I.
I still remember BlackHawk Down. The images beamed back from half-way around the world of locals dancing with joy around the dead bodies of U.S. soldiers. We rightly recoiled in horror.
Last Monday, President Barak Obama announced that U. S. Special Forces troops located and killed Osama bin Laden, and there was partying in our streets.  After all these years, I’m still not sure what to think about our actions in response to 9/11/01.  Something had to be done.  And we hope that what has been done will deter others from following in his footsteps.  But I am troubled.  And we knew this could not end, if it ever does, without some moral ambiguity.
I have had a few conversations with various of you this week about how disturbing the response by some has been to this particular death. We have seen images of people dancing in the streets. I heard an interview of a Port Authority Police officer, who lost so many on that day, expressing surprise if his son who lived in constant fear for his father’s life, were not out partying at ground zero.
While a highly emotional response is not surprising, nearly ten years after suffering the attacks of 2001, this man’s death is not an occasion for joy and delight.
I would argue that there are times when taking a human life is justifiable. There are times when ending one person’s life seems likely to prevent greater harm. But as Christians, we must never forget that taking another life is the “lesser of two evils.” Those of us who take part in such actions (whether we bear arms or pay for others to do so), must undertake them with profound thoughtfulness and deep humility.  Before God, we may only hope for grace.
Continue reading “Living in the Mess, Hoping for Grace”