A Sunday Morning with Thee, Anger

Shortly after I commented on al-Zarqawi going out with a bang, I submitted "It's Beautiful" to The Columbian's Opinion page. Sunday morning, June 25th, The Columbian printed my letter. To summarize,

I compared Rene Belloq opening the Ark of the Covenant at the end of the Raiders of the Lost Ark and finding the beautiful being that transforms into something horrible that consumes and destroys him. I compared that to al-Zarqawi expecting to find the 70 beautiful virgins as a reward for the evil he committed. Then I speculated that upon seeing those beautiful virgins they morphed into "Holy and Righteous God that judges in perfect justice."

At 8 am (Sunday morning, mind you), my wife received a phone call (I was in Seattle) from an Allen:

Allen: Is Larry there?

wife: May I take a message?

Allen: Well, is Larry there?

wife: May I ask who's calling?

Allen: This is Alan?

wife: Oh, you mean Larry's friend Allen?

Allen: Can I speak to him?

wife: (at this point, wife realizes this isn't Larry's friend Allen) I'm sorry. He's not available?

Allen: You tell, Larry, that my God is not a Nazi! ... Larry's going to have to kneel before God someday. ...

wife: (hangs up)

A couple of things struck me about this call:

1) This person must have been really, really, really angry with me to call at 8 am on a Sunday morning! I guess Allen needed to release his anger before attending church service.

2) This person must have been really, really, really angry with me to yell at my wife when he found out I wasn't available.

3) Whose God was I calling a Nazi?!? al-Zarqawi's God? The one who rewards those who behead and blow up innocent people? People who don't agree with him? Let's see didn't the Nazis kill lots of innocent people? Even after rereading my post of published letter, I honestly don't see where Allen was comming from. Unless, of course, he worships al-Zarqawi's God. The one that sanctions terror against the innocent.

4) It takes an act of true courage to take your anger out on the wife of the person with whom you disagree. Especially when she had nothing to do with the letter. But Allen must have felt better since he hasn't called back.

5) Yes, someday, I will expect to kneel before God, a "Holy and Righteous God that judges in perfect justice" the crimes for which I am guilty. That is why I kneel before the cross of Jesus Christ. He has come to me, a capital criminal, and offered me a pardon for my crimes. So that on that fateful day the beautiful entity will morph NOT into a horrible creature that consumes me but intoHis even more beautiful, loving, compassionate presence.