'And ah, for a man to arise...'

It is instinctive to blame great evil, like great good, on great men.
In the name of simplicity, Hitler becomes the Holocaust, Stalin the face of Soviet brutality, and Mao the Cultural Revolution. These generalizations do contain a measure of truth, but they obscure the greater terror- the fact of millions of ordinary Germans, Russians, and Chinese who, in the examples above, abandoned the accepted bounds of decency, clawing one another to pieces in the frenzy of fear and self-interest. In every great historical tragedy, the wise observer sees not the transcendant power of an evil man, but the transcendant power of evil in man. It is this that causes us to turn away in horror- because wherever we see the force of human callousness and cruelty surging forward, we find the same darkness mirrored in our own minds, and in the faces of those around us.
The great source of trouble in the world is not a series of malevolent masterminds, but the sin and rebellion against God in each human heart- the pride, selfishness, and lovelessness which surge restless and eternally dissatisfied there. A correct response to evil is revulsion, and hatred of evil; the only just response to the hatred of evil is not self-righteousness, but the most profound humility.
One of the most well known faces of evil and human cruelty in our generation is now dead. Why should his destruction be made a cause for rejoicing? It is only by undeserved mercy and grace that we are any different. Many men of the same stamp are eager to fill his place- like the sea welling up where one digs in the sand.
It is no wonder that Paul cried out to be freed from 'this body of death'. It is unfailingly wonderful that he was able to cry to One who could hear, and who not only heard, but answered! There can be no answer for universal corruption and crippling of the soul save the whole, purifying power of Christ. He is the Light by which we see darkness, and the Conqueror who defeats it in us. Christ remains the eternal image of the invisible God, and the source, the essence, of all that is good in man. What would it look like were we to spend less of our time in wondering when a new hero will arise, or when the previous tyrant will fall, but rather delighting in the one who is able to replace hearts of stone with beating hearts of flesh?

'And ah, for a man to arise in me,
That the man I am may cease to be.' -Tennyson