Osama's Death: Triumph?

So I'm sure everyone has heard of the death of Osama bin Laden, leader of Al Qaeda, mastermind of the 9/11 plot. He is a man who is unabashed and unashamed and open about his hatred of Westerners, Americans, Christians, Jews and nominal Muslims. He is an emblem of hatred of the same caliber as Hitler and Stalin, and sought nothing but the destruction of his enemies to glorify Allah.

Well... not anymore. He is now dead. Now Christians are forced to decide whether to celebrate or remain ambivalent about his demise. "God does not delight in the death of the wicked" (Ezekiel 13) and "Those who live by the sword shall die by the sword" Matthew 26:52 are constantly jostling for position on the flood of Christian tweets about Osama's death.

I would argue that neither response exclusively is correct. Moderation, in this sense is the more appropriate response, especially in light of the person who died, the justice that was done, the safety that will come about it, and a chance for dignified conversation on the role of justice in the world to non-believers.

Total happiness in his death would be incorrect, because it would be to deny the Lord the glory due to him for being sovereign over the entire life of Osama bin Laden, and the acts the Lord permitted through Osama bin Laden for reasons we cannot perceive in this age. 

But we are surely not to rejoice in the death of the wicked, for God doesn't do that. To do so would be to pretend that we ourselves are not also worthy of judgment and justice - that we stand apart from Osama because he is "more evil" or "more deserving" of wrath. Apart from Jesus, we all deserve wrath, so to see him die apart from the grace of Jesus is indeed tragic for him.

However, there are other things to consider in this situation. We should be thankful that God exhibits his justice and that he is a just God. It says on several occasions in the Psalms that righteousness and justice are the foundations of God's throne. This should also cause us to fear and tremble before a God so full of unstoppable justice and righteousness that we cannot possibly be good enough for his law or standards. 

This is where we find a fountainhead of joy! For, on God's throne of Justice sits a God of Mercy. 

Let me set up an interesting Biblical example. The Ark of the Covenant was commissioned by God to be built as a seat of his glory where the sacrifices of the people would be atoned for on Yom Kippur. Inside the Ark rested the staff of Aaron - the first high priest, the Ten Commandments - the law, and a bowl of manna. Resting on the Ark was the Mercy Seat, on whose corners the blood of the Lamb would be spilled to atone for the sins of Israel. I hope this is beginning to sound familiar. 

God's Justice is satiated by the blood of a spotless lamb and received by Mercy so we may be in good standing with our Father.  In Jesus, the justice and wrath of God, which was saved for us, is fulfilled and satiated so that we can come into the presence of the Lord and so that his Mercy and Justice would be fulfilled and poured out with grace to the nations. 

So the death of Osama shouldn't be an occasion for celebration, but of introspection. The death of the wicked and the punishment of the unrighteous should remind us of the grace we have in the Lord, and point us toward his loving sacrifice to bring us peaceably to him.

It is neither celebration of Osama's death, nor mourning for his destruction.

I quote Dante, who in Hell, mourns over the torment of the damned. Here, Virgil reprimands him for weeping over the final judgments of God:

"...Who is more pathetic than the person 

Who agonizes over God’s just judgments?"

The poets emerge from Hell

 (Inferno, XX, ln. 29,30)

Instead of celebrating, reflect on your own sins and the mercy shown to you in Jesus. 

Instead of repeating Scriptures condemning those who celebrate, reflect on the nature of God's Justice and the mercy he shows you.

In essence, just look to Jesus, and use this as an opportunity to tell people about the God who forgave a sinner like you.

The Most Incredible Trip Ever Part 3: "Wanderers"

So as I said before, this blog series "The Most Incredible Trip Ever" was only slated to be 3 parts. At this point, I may have to revoke that statement and let the story unfold as it will.

Now, where was I?

The concert ended, and all seemed lost for the fellowship. Our choices were narrowing down on places to stay, and we had few options left. I spent a moment talking to All the Day Holiday's lead singer: Daniel Simmons, and pitched our story to him. He was a great guy, but didn't really offer us a place to stay. Oh well. So, we decided to leave the concert hall/ bar and journey back to Barbara's hot dog trailer and share company with her and Slim (the homeless guy I mentioned in Part 2). But, serendipitously, I noticed the drummer from All the Day Holiday was sitting near their van outside and playing drums on their equipment drawers.

I thought to myself, maybe just maybe he will offer us a ride. But I shrugged it off and we kept walking. As we got to the end of the block I told Josh and Brandon, "That's the drummer from All the Day Holiday; we should tell him our story and see what happens." We turned around. "If worse comes to worse, he'll say no, but at least we asked."

So we awkardly walk up to Mark and introduced ourselves. He was a cool guy, really laid back. We told him our story about possibly staying in a homeless shelter and after hearing that he was like "No way, that's crazy!" We agreed. We continued talking to the band members and met the bassist David and the rhythm guitarist Nathan. They were awesome guys.

We chatted and talked and joked around. Their manager Michael raved about the merits of Parliament cigarettes (quite the oxymoron), and we watched drunk guidos shamble up and down the blocked off street for some guido-licious bar hopping holiday between flashing blue police lights. We joked about it for a while, and Daniel, who had come out at this point to talk to us, talked about how they don't know anything better for themselves. This sounded like something a fellow believer would say, but we didn't say anything at first.

Then Nathan mentioned that he was reading a book about Jewish history, and I asked him "Are you Jewish?"

"No, I'm just curious about the roots of my faith."

We had our proof. So I up and asked him, "Are you a believer?" He and the others confirmed and we embraced. It was great to find believers outside of Gastonia or Boone or Raleigh. It's weird to think outside of those spheres, that the gospel flourishes in a real way outside of our realm of understanding. We continued talking for a while and mentioned that we may stay in a homeless shelter.

Enter high homeless man named "Richard." This guy was quite a character. He asked for some money, which we refused at first, having walked by once earlier that night. He came back a second time, which we refused again. Obviously, he was on something if he didn't remember something that happened 15 minutes prior, and came by a third time and asked. Daniel, I believe, asked his name, to which he unloaded a cesspool of unrelated and violently ejaculated ideas. There was something about respecting your parents and how we're all like trees growing off our parents or something weird like that. He walked away for a moment and proclaimed "I am... a philosopher."

How lightly people use that term. He continued talking and raving before he finally saw a crowd he wanted to beg from and walked off. Josh Brandon and I looked at each other nervously and Daniel said words that were sweet honey to my ears, "Yeah, you guys can ride with us, we can definitely make room."

[Let me take a moment here to thank God for answering prayer in a way that goes above and beyond our requests. He granted us, not only a place to stay, but transportation to it, free bed and safe fellowship with believers. He does answer prayer]

So we packed up the van and helped them load their stuff like a giant complicated chess set. We crammed in the van and just thanked the crap out of those guys. It was an awesome ride. Mark called a buddy of his that turned 21 that night and in the middle of his conversation yelled, "You aren't drunk!? Are you okay!?" Probably a lot funnier considering it was 1:30 in the morning at that point.

They offered to let us stay with them in a hotel outside Worcester (which, you will remember, is where the concert was to be) and to take us to the concert hall the next afternoon before it started.

Anyway, the car ride was fun. Mark was sassy. David was sarcastic. Michael whined. Daniel had civil conversation, and Nathan stayed mostly stoic, discussing modernist literature with me in the back seat. [Which was great; I will talk anyone's ear off about that period.] We stopped momentarily at a McDonalds, which, strangely, didn't offer any dollar menu items at all after 2 a.m. Why!?! I remember I got a quarter pounder, and it was possibly the best McDonald's food I ever got.

A lot of the details get fuzzy after that, since it was so late. But we arrived at the hotel room, which was huge - more than big enough for all of us. They gave Brandon and I the pull-out couch. Josh slept on couch cushions and the rest of them shared the king. Daniel slept in the van with Nathan. I slept like a baby. I just left my earplugs in and slept like the dead.

His smile not = fatigue

So we wake up the next morning around 8. I remember Michael saying something about having to leave at 8 and so I rushed up and washed off a little and got packed. Josh was happy to wake up as you can see from the picture here.

I was just talking to the guys as they were getting ready. I asked Michael if I could help doing anything, since we were leaving later than we needed to.

"Let me tell you a secret: I tell them we need to leave 30 minutes before we actually have to. That way, we are always on time."

Ingenious, Michael. Ingenious.

The ride to Worcester

Anyway, so we go out and get in the car. A light rain met us as we walked out, bu no big deal. We drove to Worcester, and the guys stopped at the concert hall in Worcester. We got there at about 10, and helped unload in the rain. They gave us their stuff and we walked it inside. Yeah, we were roadies. Yeah, we went in the Palladium before the concert. Yeah, we set up gear.

Left: Michael // Right: Brandon

Yeah, we're awesome. Question answered.

[I should also mention: I never got how to say Worcester. Turns out, it's pronounced 'whis-ter' not 'wor-chess-ter.' Don't worried, I was heckled most of the time for it.]

Anyway, we set up, the inside was awesome, and it was huge, and perfect for the awesome-ness of the upcoming concert.

But the guys let us go after set-up, told us what time their set was (if I remember correctly, it was 3). So, Brandon, Josh and I go to the Crowne Plaza hotel to fulfill our reservations. This place was nice! I mean clean, chandeliers, roaring fire and tiled flooring. The clerk was nice and welcoming and told us about the Breakfast Buffet.

Elation

Excitement

Joy

...All from a Breakfast Buffet.

So we shower stupid fast, get keys for everyone, and rush down to the breakfast buffet. That was the best 13 dollars I have ever spent. I have never eaten that much bacon, sausage, biscuit or egg in all my life. The consumption was unparalleled. I om-nom-nommed the crap out of that food.

Josh at a lot of gluten, which all of us suffered for later on.

So we went and took a nap until All the Day Holiday's set that afternoon.

To be continued...

The Most Incredible Trip Ever: Part 2 "Then I Defy You, Stars"

We began our trip on May 7th, a day before Skatefest and the day of their Secret Show: "The Real Eve of Skatefest." Our plan was to leave arrive at the airport around 2 pm. Josh and Brandon were to pick me up from my apartment an hour and a half before our take-off time, which is standard procedure for that kind of thing. As 12:30 began to draw close, I became anxious and worried about arriving on time. I did NOT want to miss. So I called Josh and they told me they were on their way. I was so anxious and excited that I got my bag and packed my few little things in it - MP3 player, wallet, phone and charger, a few pairs of undies, T-shirt and an undershirt. I knew I'd sweat a ton on that trip, so I remembered to bring deodorant of course. I remembered of course that I'd be buying shirts and things, so I left room for that as well.

Anyway, details, details.

I went to the main street in front of my apartment complex, so they wouldn't have to bother to park and pull out and all that silly junk. The seconds that drew by felt like hours, but finally I saw them riding up in Josh Carroll's glorious Saturn. Its gleaming silver blue shine glinted in the sunlight and danced across the open pages of my memory. From out of that glorious chariot, Josh Henderson hung from the window, brandishing a glorious wooden sword, which I later was told came from a dumpster at App. State that he found just before he drove to Raleigh. He nearly smacked me in the head with it as they screeched to a halt at my feet, and it was one of the funniest things I had ever seen.

When I got in we just started screaming and hollering like there was no tomorrow. The Receiving End of Sirens was just blaring and we could feel the ecstasy which was to come slowly impressing itself on our minds.

We arrived at the airport with no problems. Nothing amazing to speak of. We got our JetBlue tickets and went through security. No problems with that either. We got through in literally 5 minutes. We had an hour or more to burn before the flight, so Josh and I went to an overpriced bookstore near our gate and browsed for a while. Josh (Henderson, let's make this clear) bought The Plague by Albert Camus and I bought No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy (who, in my opinion, is the greatest fiction writer alive today).

Josh and I in Boston. Day 1

We boarded the flight, sitting in separate seats, and read or slept for the 2 or 3 hours we were on the plane. We arrived in Boston and charged off the ramp onto the ground of Boston. We bought a bus ticket into the heart of Boston to get a Greyhound to Providence. Brandon wound up having to pay with a 20, and got 19 shiny gold coin dollars in change. He wasn't sneaking up on anyone the rest of that trip.

We got lost briefly in Chinatown trying to find the Greyhound hub, but Josh got directions from his iPhone and we departed for Providence.

Let me take a chance to say something about Greyhound. People romanticize buses as something for hipsters, or people on identity crises or poor hobos going from place to place. They're actually not. There were people from all walks of life on that bus. Our one to Providence was nearly full. I had a seat to myself, luckily, and Josh and Brandon slept together. I was too enamored by the book to take my eyes off of it. But I sat there and charged my phone in the plugs they have at every seat. The seats were comfortable and gave you plenty of space. There is also an AC unit above you that you can control. But, I didn't venture into the bathrooms.

So we arrived in Providence, which was a beautiful city. It was very open and inviting, with tall glass buildings and other small monuments with an old-world feel shining from their granite facades. We walked about 5 blocks to the small concert hall where TREOS was to be playing. This road took us through a cobblestone walkway flanked on either side by small trees lite with lights. It was beautiful and calm that night, and we walked by a park, where we planned to hang up an ENO hammock to stay for the night.

We had no way of getting to Worcester, MA that night since the buses stopped running at 12, and we knew we'd be in that concert until possibly 1. But, being young and foolish, we didn't care one bit.

We went up into the concert hall, got our tickets approved, our ID's checked and went on in. It was a neat place, with a big bar in the very middle and a lot of scantily clad women who we knew would leave soon after that rock music would start playing. We stuck around for a bit, and got super excited when we saw Brendan Brown and Alex Bars. Our fears were dashed away in that moment, and we squealed and shouted like little girls. It was great.

Well we sat around for a bit and listened to a band called All the Day Holiday. They were really good - a good start up for an awesome night. Their frontman was really nice to the crowd, saying things like- "We love you guys. This is the reason we play," or "Come talk to us after the show, we'd love to hear your story." He was very gracious to the crowd, and seemed really sincere.

About three-quarters of the way through their set we left and decided to walk around Providence a bit more. It was a good night, and we needed to scout out places to camp in the city. We arrived again at the square where we arrived and went into the hot dog TRAILER that was there. I mean you could literally go inside this thing.

Well, we grabbed a hot dog, since we only had a hamburger in Boston and talked to the owner named Barbara. She had a homeless pal who was sitting in there, interrupting at times to tell us about how we could stay at some strip joint. We humbly declined and Barbara told us that "white boys like [us] would get robbed staying in a park." She went on to say "They [the homeless] can tell you aren't one of them, and around here they fight a ton. There was a fight out here not too long ago and the cops were called." At this point we began to get nervous and asked her for advice on where to stay for cheap. Again the homeless dude told us to go to some place and she yelled at him and told him to shut up.

The only place she recommended was the homeless shelter, which we got directions to pretty easily, but nonetheless were anxious about that idea. So, on our way back, I began to pray that we would be provided with somewhere to stay for cheap and without worry about being mugged or whatever.

Anyway, the time for CONCERT 1 came and we hustled back to the concert hall.

After waiting through some crappy post-hardcore bands, The Receiving End of Sirens finally came up to set up their equipment. It was time.

My Excitement

Brandon's Excitement

Josh's Excitement

Suffice to say, it was one of the most incredible concert events ever. Literally everyone sang along to every word of every song. There were no fights, no petty quarrels about who hit whom in the mosh pit. Everyone was excited to be there and happy to be there. TREOS was happy to be there, encouraging everyone, thanking everyone repeatedly and fostering the general sense of camaraderie.

I'm not really sure how many songs they played, or which exactly, other than their big singles and some of the more popular ones, but every second of it was so much fun. Brandon and Josh stayed near the back to watch while I dove in the pits and had fun dancing with everyone and singing along with the group.

After the show itself we went and talked to TREOS and tried to plug our story in, ya know, just to see if we could stay with them or anything, which didn't work... sadly. So we got a picture or two with them, and stood around, looked at merch. Brandon bought a shirt with a unicorn on it for TREOS, but other than that there wasn't much to snatch.

And, we still had no place to stay.

TO BE CONTINUED...