In light of recent events, I have a major topic weighing heavily on my
mind. It saddens me to know one of the Boston bombers is only 19 years
old. In my eyes, he is a baby. He was going to school to be a doctor.
Now, I am not stating that what he and his brother did can be condoned.
They committed a crime. They killed four people and severely wounded
many others. Nonetheless, Jesus suffered for the bombers sins too. No one is perfect; He suffered for everyone.
I am a firm believer in a simple and still so complicated concept. We as
a society can save the world through love and forgiveness. That is it. I know...you are thinking it is a crazy out-of-this-world concept, but I truly believe the lack of these two ideas are what is causing so much turmoil in the first place.
I have this weird...ability?...blessing?...not sure what to call
it...what I tend to do is think about everyone involved. I have been
praying for the families affected by the bombings. However, another life
has been taken in this whole event. This 19-year-old kid lost his life.
He will not be able to live his life in the manner that every 19-year
old should live it. He will either live his entire
life (a rather long life) in prison or in ten years time (maybe even
fifteen or twenty years) be executed for crimes against humanity.
Whatever the scenario his life has ended.
This saddens me profusely. Whenever, I hear the story of the Boston
bombings retold, all I can think about is how scared this young man must
have been. I can see him making attempts to stay strong and claim that
he has no regard for his life, but I often still wonder if through all
of this, he just wanted it all to go away. I believe he was so scared
that, in the end, he just didn't know what to do anymore. In the end, he gave up.
Love and forgiveness go hand and hand. If you love someone, you will
forgive them. I have forgiven this boy. Something inside of me wants to
hug him and say "this, too, shall pass. You were stupid and very wrong. You took so many lives. What were you thinking? I know you did wrong,
but I forgive you." Now, maybe it's all because I was not directly
effected by the bombers. Maybe I can forgive easily because I see
everything from afar and have never experienced what many of the people
of Boston have experienced. Maybe I am too young too understand certain concepts of forgiveness. Yet, I feel this kid needs it now more than
ever. Families need to heal and this kid needs someone to forgive him.
I was raised in a Christian household. I have many friends who are of different faiths. I even have atheist friends. I don't care what you believe. I love all of my friends. If I ever need to remind someone that I would do anything for them, including forgive them, then they don't know me well enough. I am not angered easily. Somehow, I am able to forgive even though there have been times when, according to others, I shouldn't forgive. I just ask one thing in return...to forgive me of any wrongdoings that I have done. I never intentionally hurt people, regardless of what some may think. Maybe that is where this forgiveness aspect comes from. I want to be forgiven whenever I do something wrong, but how can I be forgiven if I fail to forgive, even those who are terrible people.
Someday, everyone will understand the concept of love and forgiveness. Then our world will be better...at least in my opinion.
