"Ding dong, the witch is dead!"?

We've all been reminded, and consequently rethinking, about the events of 9/11 almost ten years ago. In my nearly six decades of breathing, it is the only national tragedy that surpasses that November day in Dallas when we lost our President to a crazy man with a gun. The images of those airplanes slamming into those towers and knowing that hundreds just died right before my eyes, and the horrible sight of those giant buildings collapsing down, one floor at a time, taking the lives of WTC employees and hundreds of rescue workers, are burned into our minds as permanently as that iconic picture of the USS Arizona exploding on December 7, 1941.
Many of us have another image burned into our heads. One that many have forgotten about and I haven't seen replayed on the News yet. It is the video clips of people who hate America celebrating and cheering after hearing the news about the 9/11 attack. To them, it was a great victory. To them, the 19 Muslims who hijacked the four planes and turned them into suicide bombs were martyrs and heroes. To them, the man identified as the leader and architect behind the attack was idolized as a champion and super hero. I remember my anger building up as I watched them cheer and dance and thinking to myself, "Where's 'The Bomb" when you truly need it?" I'm glad I didn't let the sun go down on that anger, but the mental pictures are still there.
And now Osama bin Laden is dead. After nine and a half years of hiding and mocking our military and intelligence people, his body has found a cold grave in the depth of the sea. I am glad that justice was served, and that the world is a better and safer place. I deeply admire the soldiers who went in there and got it done, and all the support people who helped pull it all together. I am proud of our soldiers and the success of our country.
Please excuse me if I don't feel the call to dance and cheer. I don't want to look like those people who danced and cheered in 2001 when my country was attacked and my fellow country-men where massacred. I don't want to look anything like them. I don't want to criticize any American who has been cheering and dancing, but it makes me uncomfortable. This isn't a football game. This is life and death. This is about people who are walking and breathing one second and the next standing before God to give account of themselves. I can't see Jesus celebrating over someone being killed, even if it was justified - even if it fits the biblical definition of "Be sure your sins will find you out."
Thanks to a well known movie, and a vivid imagination, I also have a mental picture of people cheering the order "Crucify Him!" Of course, there is no comparison, but there is a principle of propriety, seriousness, and eternity that makes any death nothing like a college pep rally.
Can you imagine Osama explaining himself to God? That's heavy stuff! But then, each of us will do the same thing.