A Parable for September 11, 2001

The following parable was written between 9/11 and about 9/15/2001.

Jesus said, “In a realm far from me in time but not in heart, a king and queen did their best to follow the commandments and keep to the Covenant.

“But, from a distance far from the queen and king, worshippers of an idol whom they called the one and only God hated the realm with all their hearts and swore to destroy it. Many times they tried to terrorize the realm they hated, to throw its people and affairs into chaos, to destroy whatever they could; but usually they were foiled. They even took money from the king and queen” [early in 2001 the Taliban accepted $43 million from the second Bush administration for their so-called participation in the drug war!], “and sneered at them for their foolish generosity, and spent the money on their evil designs rather than on relieving the dreadful suffering of the people in their own land.

“And then one day, the conspirators stole into the realm they hated, and by treachery and cunning they burned down the treasury and murdered the nation’s children. And the king wept, and the queen could not be comforted.

“But God said to the king and queen, ‘Vengeance is mine. If you seek revenge, revenge will be your only reward.’

“The queen cried out, ‘Why? Why did this have to happen to us?’ And God said to the queen, ‘Where were you when I created the Universe?’

“The king said, ‘I will assemble my armies and seek these scorpions, to destroy them in their turn.’ And God spoke and said to him, ‘Beware that you do not destroy your own soul in the process. What have I ever asked of you but to do justice, love compassion, and walk humbly at My side?’

“The king said, ‘I want these evildoers punished for this monstrous crime. I want justice — justice by the definition of the Old West, with the posters that said, “Wanted: Dead or Alive.”’”

And Jesus wept.

—by Mary W. Matthews, with thanks to Jim Burt
for the final two paragraphs.