“I don’t like Mondays”, sang Bob Geldof when he was a Boomtown Rat, and again when he became Saint Bob at LiveAid a quarter of a century ago.

Lots of us don’t like Mondays. Except perhaps Mondays like today when it’s a Bank Holiday and the sun is shining. Although, it must be said, the rather dismal spectacle of “celebrations” over the death of bin Laden have rather soured it. I’m not sure whether or not the word is a safer place without him. I certainly hope his death will not kick off another round of violence, but any kind of gloating surely isn’t going to help that happen. Brian McLaren has words of wisdom on that subject:

Joyfully celebrating the killing of a killer who joyfully celebrated killing carries an irony that I hope will not be lost on us. Are we learning anything, or simply spinning harder in the cycle of violence?… As you talk about this news, I hope you will consider how your response can counter rather than reinforce the cycles of violence that spin around us. And please God, help us bring healing beauty to the ugliness of violence in whatever small way we can.

This particular Monday, then, we need to focus on making peace, and that requires a disciplined approach, denying oneself the luxury of gloating over one’s enemies. If the death of bin Laden is supposed to make the world a better place, then it will only do so if we genuinely will do whatever we can, at whatever personal cost, to be peacemakers.

Sometime yesterday evening, before I heard of the death of bin Laden, I read something that caught my imagination. Twitterers will be familiar with #ff – Follow Friday, a recommendation of tweeters to follow. This idea is similar – send two or three tweeters a reason to feel good about Monday, an idea to pick up the week, a goal to aim for or an encouragement in what they do. Today, I am thinking, would be a good day to tweet a few people to encourage peacemaking. Is it trivial? I don’t think so. It would be a mistake to overestimate social media: it’s not great literature, it’s not reasoned argument. I know that. But it’s an equal mistake to underestimate its influence. Even in popular culture, small ideas can create big changes, as Saint Bob so ably demonstrated. So I’m off to tweet a little love and peace, and sign off with #lovemonday. It’s a small thing, but – to quote another pop singer – it may set off a chain reaction…