A Witness to History

"Osama Bin Laden".

I was at the dining room table, playing my part in the post-meal, Sunday Night debrief. Family discussed, chatted, and talked about our worlds and the weekend and life's special moments. There was no talking when President Obama got to the podium. He addressed the nation, the world, me, and as the people I love gathered in silence, history presented itself.

Osama Bin Laden. Terrorism. September 11th. Evil. And now, synonymous with this name can be added "Dead". Or more appropriately "Dead!"

We had raced into the TV room as breaking news alerts threw around the Taliban Leader's name and attached it to Death. So rarely does time stop. So rarely does the universe open itself up and reveal a secret so precious that time needs to slow down to fit it in. So rarely does nothing else matter. Barak Obama confirmed that the symbol of Terror had been killed. He delivered a speech that will reach around the world, with endless speed, and touch lives in a most powerful of ways.

Tonight, as the beautiful chaos of life began to wind down a Sunday evening, the unity of Good was strengthened as a new chapter began. For the victims of the September 11th attacks, for the families of the murdered, for the people in fear of terror, everything has changed. And as the President described the beginning of this new chapter, this version of Yesterday but without Bin Laden, I felt a warmth that only true greatness can bring.

Like Mitch Rap, or Jack Bauer, or 007, the good guys worked their way through a mine-ridden chess board to respond to an attack on innocence that began nearly two decades ago. But unlike the Bauers, Bournes, and Bonds of the spy genre, the heroes of today's history found victory outside the arena of fiction, giving us richer reward from a deeper risk.

We will not allow evil to push us around. We will not settle for uncertainty, fear, terror. We will not go quietly. We will not stop. We will fight back! I felt chills, because this moment, this piece of history, was more than a headline could handle, it was more than information, it was bursting at the seams - it was pure life.

Tomorrow we will wake up to a new world. A world where Peace and Liberty, join the charge of Good-over-Evil, and the Free World in celebration. Osama Bin Laden is dead. Our world tomorrow is a better place. We got him!