The Divinity in Saddam Hussein

In theology classes at Gonzaga University, we often talked about the spark of divinity that exists in every human being, according to Catholic teachings. It's also a topic theologians like to write about.

It's great in theory, but then someone like Saddam Hussein looms in the world and in the news. I was happy he was caught yesterday, happy he is now in a place where he can do no more harm, but my theology classes came back to me as I wondered: "Where is the divinity in Saddam Hussein?"

I found it in his eyes. In the photos broadcast to the world, he looks like a homeless man dragged off the streets and into a shelter, or a jail. He had wild but very sad eyes. That's where I glimpsed the divinity, in the brokenness of an old man who surrendered to get out of a hole, literally.