Everything Comes To An End

“I found out yesterday that Jerry Falwell had died and I felt this sense of ebullience. I hate to admit it, but I felt excited. I know it’s not very spiritual, but it kind of made my day.”

This is what another therapist, a close friend and colleague of mine, said to me today. He is by no means alone in his sentiments, many are feeling the same way, myself included.

Jerry Falwell has been the voice of hate and vitriol for the religious right for many years. I am the epitome of everything he despised. I am queer, feminist, left wing, and a witch. My colleague is a tranny, a gentle gender outlaw that Reverend Falwell would have abhorred. To him, we were both to blame for what happened on September 11^th, 2001. He would be happy, excited, and somewhat ebullient to hear of people like ourselves dying, preferably in ways where we suffered greatly. He certainly believed if we didn’t suffer in this life, we’d be damned unhappy in the next.

It makes sense that so many of us are feeling happy he is dead. In Freak Nation, and amongst progressive folks, there is a mighty cry equaling the Munchkin’s joyous “Ding Dong, The Witch is Dead”. There is relief that one less powerful hatemonger is among us. But, it also feels uncomfortable to some, and like my colleague said, not “spiritual” to be so relieved.

Retaliation has always been part of the human experience. “An eye for an eye” is much more the human condition than “turn the other cheek”. This is why I’ve perversely found “Have another pretzel, motherfucker” one of my all time favorite signs at a protest. I would never carry such a sign, but I sure enjoyed seeing it. We may preach love, peace, and non-violence, but there is something in most of us that rejoices when someone who has caused pain gets theirs. There is a place for acknowledging it, and especially with humor, that magic elixir.

And yet. It is also part of the human condition to try to rise above this, to attempt to come from love. The god Rev. Falwell worshipped may be skilled in the ability to smote and jealous as all get out, but his son was all about forgiveness. He was the King of Peace, and our Goddess charges us that love is the law. What does it mean to obey this law, and to also own the authenticity of our relief? Almost all of those I know who are savoring the passing of this hatemonger are people who try their best to be kind, who value love over hate. How do we embrace the complexities of our feelings at such a passing?

We hate Jerry Falwell because he hates so much, because his litany is not about kindness and acceptance, but about retaliation and revenge. The paradox of this is also part of being human. Paradox is the heart of the Craft, it is what lies in the center of every cast circle. Holding both light and shadow as sacred is an integral part of being a witch. Embracing and loving both is the work of a lifetime. In loving both, we rise to the Goddess's charge. Throw in a little mirth, and our reverence increases.

For me, this death serves to remind that everything passes. Regimes fall, and powerful hatemongers die. Everything comes to an end. Even wars. Today I am breathing into that, and knowing on both the biggest scale, and the smallest, the turn of the wheel can bring comfort. Turn wheel, turn!

Postscript and on another paradoxical note: My friend Japhet recently blogged about the strange fact that He Who Should Eat More Pretzels just decreed May 1st "National Loyalty Day". How bizarre is that? The one day of the year that it's almost sacred to break vows of monogamy and get wild...it's now our National Day of Loyalty. The head is shaking with disbelief. Can things get any weirder?