Justice has been Done: Now for Reconciliation

As President Obama said last night, Justice has been done. And for that, we may rightly give thanks. My son, John, was in one of the distant suburbs of Washington, D.C. last night when I called him. So, he wasn’t able to join all those college students from nearby George Washington University outside the White House . They were all about his age. He was 11 on September 11th, 2001. Laura and I picked him up from school that afternoon and went home. From the top of the slope where we entered our home, we could see the smoke rising from the Pentagon, about two miles away.

I think that much of what we saw outside the White House last night was relief, an exhaling of breath after nearly ten years of holding it in, bracing ourselves for the next strike. For months afterward, I instinctively looked up to the sky whenever I heard the engine of a jet plane headed for Reagan National Airport. Many of us stoically joked about living near Bin Laden’s favorite targets. At a costume party a few months later, one member of our church came as a “safe house.” She taped cellophane to the top of a cardboard box which she wore on her head, while taped to her body were the recommended items for a safe house. We all laughed. It helped us live with the fear.

All of which is to say that I understand the reaction of so many Americans to the news that justice has been served on the man who murdered nearly 3,000 innocent people that day. But after the relief must come reflection. Then must come the turning of our hearts toward reconciliation. Any justice that consists solely of execution and punishment is incomplete. I didn’t say it was wrong, just incomplete. Jesus satisfied the justice of God on the cross; not to punish sinners, but to reconcile them to God. As we exhale after nearly 10 years of living in fear, let us pray and work for reconciliation, which is the ultimate justice.

“O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” (Collect For The Human Family, Book of Common Prayer).