Well, a New Year’s Day has passed. The Christmas tree is down and tucked away in the crawlspace in the brand-spanking new plastic bins we finally decided to buy instead of stuffing the blasted thing back in its ten year-old original cardboard box. Much football was watched by yours truly (too much, some in the house would say) and I’m feeling rested after a hectic Christmas season…even took yesterday off and had a guest preacher.
I went to the gym this afternoon where, pedaling fast to nowhere on the exercise bike, I started to think about possible New Year’s resolutions. I did pretty well with them last year–things like keeping a journal all year and maintaining my exercise (which I both accomplished). This year I was feeling a little stumped until I came across this great article in a recent issue of U.S. News on "50 Ways to Improve Your Life in 2007." There are some great suggestions in there. Check out the article and see what fits. I found the articles fascinating and it gave me some great ideas.
The news, of course, was dominated this weekend by Saddam Hussein’s hanging in Baghdad. The debate on the death penalty raises itself again and perhaps rightly so. The New York times had a feature article in the Sunday edition outlining the brutality of Saddam’s life and reign and its easy to believe that he deserved what he got. On the other hand, what does a quick move toward retribution say about humanity and about our relationship with God? There’s no easy answer here, particularly to those of another culture who lost so much because of this tyrant.
Still, I’m not one who is a supporter of the death penalty. I believe that it takes the whole issue of justice out of God’s realm. If we believe that God is just, then we also understand that God doesn’t always give us what we deserve. The witness of scripture seems to be that we are never beyond redemption. Does that apply to tyrants and monsters like Hussein? It’s a great theological question. No matter how you feel about it, though, seeing a noose put around someone’s neck somehow dehumanizes us all as we experience the fear of death in full color.
Come to think of it, maybe we should all make a resolution to spend this year reflecting on what justice is all about. It’s certainly worth a discussion.
Speaking of which, Park City Community Church will be hosting the world premiere of a new film called "The Power of Forgiveness" (scroll down to the film) during the Sundance Film Festival. Check here soon for details about the screenings and plan to join us on January 21, 22, or 23. It will be a great chance to explore these issues in greater detail.
