Who can forget that image of the one man standing in front of the advancing tanks across Tiananmen Square? Led by students, the protests began in April 1989 and by June 4, it is estimated that one million people were in the Square protesting corruption and limited freedoms. The army was ordered to break up the demonstration and others throughout the country and over the next several days hundreds of protesters were killed. Sources say that the “tank man” was arrested and executed by firing squad.
Today in Hong Kong, pro-democracy activist Chow Hang Tung was arrested because she asked people to turn on their lights in commemoration of the June 4-5 massacre. The police closed off Victoria Park where the annual remembrance has been held for the last 30 years. The wall of silence closes in and those who speak out are arrested.
We have had our own wall of silence on such events as Tulsa, Chicago, and many other places, not just in the South, where people have been brutalized and murdered because they cried for freedom and justice. It is important to remember for without memory we cannot make the changes necessary for our democracy.
Prayer for the Day
You who see human need and call us to respond,
Open our eyes to the need around us;
You call us to be instruments of your grace,
And to be your face in the world.
Help us to put aside our fears and our concerns
So we act as the face of your new community.
We ask this in the name of him who opened our hearts,
Even Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen
Thoughts for the Day
But who can remember pain, once it’s over? All that remains of it is a shadow, not in the mind even, in the flesh. Pain marks you, but too deep to see. Out of sight, out of mind.
Margaret Atwood, Canadian novelist, from The Handmaid’s Tale
What you end up remembering isn't always the same as what you have witnessed.
Julian Barnes, British writer
Why should I fear in times of trouble, when the iniquity of my persecutors surround me,
Those who trust in their wealth and boast of the abundance of their riches?
Truly, no ransom avails for one’s life, there is no price one can give to God for it,
For the ransom of life is costly, and can never suffice,
That one should live on forever and never see the grave?
Psalm 49: 5-9