"ISIS is not Islam!"  These words of a Muslim friend of mine, spoken to me in the shadow of the recent terrorist attack in Manchester, England, have never been more timely.  In the aftermath of such carnage, it's normal to lash out at a belief we perhaps do not fully understand.  Under the weight of pain, it's easy to lump everyone who holds to, our mind, a belief we do not understand, into the same category.  We are sorry, we are hurting, we are angry.  We do not know what else to do.
     I pray that as many in the West, and the rest of the planet as well, continue to mourn those who lost their lives in this act of violence, we do so in the light of Jesus' words to God as he hung on the cross, "Father, forgive them [those who crucified him], for they do not know what they do."  Clearly, the people of ISIS have terribly misinterpreted the essence of Islam.  Equally as clear, all things considered, they really do not understand the full extent of their actions.  They do not grasp the full measure of the pain caused by what they do.
     This isn't to excuse ISIS.  Not at all.  It is simply to remind us that in a fallen world, we all labor under the myopia and misperceptions of our sin.  We all see less than we should. We must therefore couch our desire for justice in something bigger than ourselves, something--someone--in whom justice finds its ultimate definition, the only one who sees all things:  God.