Overcome Evil
Gordon Wilson held his daughter's hand as they lay trapped beneath a mountain of rubble. It was 1987, and he and Marie had been attending a memorial service in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, when a terrorist bomb went off. By the end of the day, Marie and nine other were dead and sixty-three had been hospitalized.
Gordon refused to let anger overcome him and lead him down the path of revenge. He said, "I have lost my daughter, and I shall miss her. Angry words will neither bring her back nor bring peace to this country. But I bear no ill will. I bear no grudge. That will not bring her back. Don't ask me, please, for a purpose (in this)...I don't have an answer (for that). But I know there has to be a plan. It's part of a greater plan and we shall meet again."
Later, Gordon said that his words were not intended as a theological response to his daughter's murder. He had simply blurted them out from the depth of his heart. In the days and months after the bombing, he struggled to live up to his words. It wasn't easy, but they were something to hang on to; something to keep him afloat in the dark hours.
He knew that the terrorists who took his daughter's life were anything but remorseful, and he maintained that they should be punished and imprisoned. Even so, he refused to seek revenge.
"It would be wrong for me to give any impression that the gunmen and bombers should be allowed to walk the street s freely, but whether or not they are judged here on earth by a court of law, I do my very best in human terms to show forgiveness. Those who have to account for this deed will have to face a judgment of God, which is way beyond my forgiveness. The last word rests with God."
The Apostle Paul said, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21 ESV)." These words challenge much of the thinking that saturates our society. There we are urged to "look out for number one" and "take matters into our own hands."
Gordon Wilson's story testifies that there is another way. Even in the most terrible of circumstances, with God's help, we can overcome evil with good. Wilson chose forgiveness and that allowed him to find peace and comfort in God's grace. The effect of his choice reached far beyond his own personal "peace of mind and heart' as, at least temporarily, his words broke the cycle of killing and revenge in Northern Ireland. The local Protestant paramilitary leadership felt so convicted by his courage and example that they did not retaliate.
Rather than being crushed by grief and eaten away by a desire for vengeance, Wilson found a way to triumph, to bring reconciliation into his life and the lives of his countrymen.
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21 ESV)
