Yesterday, Washington, D.C., saw two kinds of services, as it were. One garnered all kinds of media attention as Supreme Court Justices heard arguments on whether a President could be held criminally liable for actions taken to hold onto power in spite of losing an election.
The other was a Celebration of Life at Washington National Cathedral for the seven World Central Kitchen volunteers killed in an Israeli air strike on April 1 even though they had been given safe passage and the IDF knew their coordinates.
How to compare the two, we may ask. How, indeed? As chef José Andrés said, the selfless devotion to feeding people represents “the very best of humanity.” They died in their work “to feed people they did not know and would never meet.” How do we, how should we measure their devotion compared to what was occurring only a few miles away at the Supreme Court?
Prayer for the Day
In grief we come to you, O God, for the world seems so skewed,
And we do not understand why such lives should have been lost;
In despair we come to you, O Lord, for our Nation is so troubled,
As we hear lawyers argue that some are beyond the reach of law.
Steer us through these perilous and terrible times,
Enabling us to heal and establish true justice in this world.
In the name of the One who fed people he did not know,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
I know we all have many unanswered questions about what happened and why. There is no excuse for these killings. The official explanation is not good enough.
José Andrés, at Washington National Cathedral, April 25, 2024
W]here, say some, is the King of America? [I]n America the law is king. For as in absolute governments the King is law, so in free countries the law ought to be king; and there ought to be no other.
Thomas Paine, from Common Sense (1776) (1737-1809)
If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,
If you offer your food to the hungry, and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
Then your light shall rise in the darkness, and your gloom be like the noonday.
The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places,
And make your bones strong, and you shall be like a watered garden,
Like a spring of water, whose waters never fail.
Isaiah 58:10-11.
World Central Kitchen Volunteers Who Died
James Henderson, James Kirby, John Chapman; Damian Sobol,
Zomi Frankcom, Jacob Flickinger and Saif Issam Abu Taha