Day: May 3, 2011

A number of year ago I had a boss who would routinely consult her copy of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War in our staff meetings. Her favorite saying was, “In a time of peace, we need to prepare for war.” And we worked for an environmental nonprofit. Her perspective bugged me because I always thought Sun Tzu got it wrong; what we really need to do, particularly in this day and age with fighting seemingly everywhere, is to prepare for peace in a time of war.

With Osama bin Laden now gone, we can finally turn our sights to preparing for peace. To be sure the war is not over, not by a long shot. As good as it feels to celebrate the end of Bin Laden’s reign, there are still too many others who wish to do us harm. We still need to remain vigilant, on guard, and careful. That, sadly, may never change.

What we can do is turn our sights toward our sights toward the Middle East and begin to truly rebuild relations. Justice has been served, and with justice comes the beginning of the healing process. Though we have been celebrating the end of bin Laden here for over 24 hours, we must remember that many people in the Middle East, many Muslim Americans are also celebrating. They too can begin healing – this war has happened to them, too, and that was not of their choosing. It was the choosing of a vicious, sick man who thankfully is no longer among us.

My sister, Weez, put up a Facebook status yesterday that really struck me as the most beautiful set of words I heard about the situation and our emotions surrounding it:

May 1st Prayer
Now I lay me down to sleep
one less terrorist this world does keep
with all my heart I give my thanks
to those in uniform regardless of ranks

You serve our country and serve it well
with humble hearts your stories tell
so as I rest my weary eyes
while freedom rings our flag still flies

You give your all, do what you must
with God we live and in God we trust

Amen