Timothy McVeigh and The Oklahoma City Bombing

The name Timothy McVeigh brings back memories of April 19, 1995- a perfect, sun-drenched spring morning in Oklahoma.  Against a perfect blue-sky, a yellow Ryder Rental truck carefully made its way through the streets of downtown Oklahoma City.

Just after 9 am, the vehicle pulled into a parking area outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building and the driver stepped down from the truck's cab and casually walked away. A few minutes later, at 9:02, all hell broke loose as the truck's deadly 4000-pound cargo blasted the government building with enough force to shatter one third of the seven-story structure to bits.

The explosion and collapse of the building killed 168 people including, 15 small children in a daycare center and injured 680.  Up to that time, this was the most devastating terrorist attack in American history.  You can read the details on Wikipedia by clicking here and a story about the bombing, trial and execution of Timothy McVeigh by clicking here.

A rescue worker carrying a baby that later died.

The natural reaction of the thousands of relatives and friends of the victims against Timothy McVeigh and an accomplice, Terry Nichols, was anger, bitterness, hatred and revenge.  In their minds, they plotted every way imaginable to get even with them.  They prayed that they would die in the same horrible way that the victims died.  They blamed God and railed against him asked, “Why did you let this happen.”  They blamed the government. 

The reprehensible actions of Timothy McVeigh were controlling their lives.  They were depressed, had problems sleeping, were irritable, had physical problems and relationship problems at home and work, divorces among then increased as their anger and thoughts of revenge haunted them day and night.  What could they do to get rid of the terrible weight they were carrying?   They could forgive Timothy McVeigh.  You say, forgive Timothy McVeigh you must be crazy, no one could forgive Timothy McVeigh.  Yes they can, and you can also learn to forgive.  Forgiveness is not letting the perpetrator off the hook, it is letting you off the hook and freeing you from the Mack Truck you are carrying on your back from a wrong that has been done to you.  Forgiveness is not natural; it takes time and study, a lot like going to school to learn how to forgive.   A journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step.  If you are ready to start he journey down the Forgiveness Road and learn to forgive, class starts now.  Following are study resources.

• Click here to go to Bible Gateway.  Do a search for Forgive and then Forgiveness and follow the links.

• Contact us and we will send you the free book, What to Do When You Don’t Know What to Do, God Will Make a Way.

• Go to the articles page and watch the video that was on CBS 60 Minutes.  In particular, pay attention to what Jennifer says near the end of the video, about how the debilitating guilt and shame was lifted from her when Ron Cotton said, I forgive you.   Back up the video and watch that segment several times.

• Go to the articles page and read the article about how Eva Mozes Kor survived the Auschwitz Nazi death camp and how she forgave the Nazis for the medical experiments they performed on her and for murdering her parents and two sisters.  Follow the links and read what Eva says about how she felt when she forgave the Nazi’s.  Click here to watch a video of Eva forgiving the Nazi’s.  At the very end of the video Eva makes a very profound statement, when she says, “Getting even has never healed a single person.”

• Go to the links page and follow the links to many good resources that will help you learn to forgive.

I pray that God will give you strength as you travel The Forgiveness Road and learn to forgive.

Don Searles