It’s the start of a new month and many of wonder whether the news of this month will be different, better, more hopeful than it has been for months before. We awakened this morning to learn that the bodies of six more hostages held by Hamas had been found, the men having been shot shortly before, according to the IDF. Nothing new here.
We also learned that a group of major publishers and parents have sued Florida over its book bans. Tolstoy now joins the list of “sexually explicit” material in Anna Karenina. I have to admit, having read this novel, that I did not expect the yahoos of Florida to be literate enough to read it to find a sexually explicit scene. Also banned are dictionaries and a thesaurus. Nothing new here, either.
The one bright story in this new month is the mass vaccination of children against polio in Gaza. It seems that these two warring parties had the decency, humanity, and pure common sense to agree to a limited cease fire for this project. But we must ask, how many of these children will survive the continued fighting once the cease fire is lifted. There must be a way to overcome the hate each side feels for the other.
Prayer for the Day
Here we are again, O God, wondering what this new month will bring,
The continuation of war and famine or breakthroughs in peace;
Here we are again, O Lord, afraid that the future will be like the past,
With hate and fear and ignorance impinging on our lives.
Give us respite, O Holy One, from what ails us, our own fears,
And open us to enabling your vision of peace and justice.
In the name of the One who points the way,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
We hope it will continue over the next days, but what we really need is a cease-fire that would enable the provision of more relief at a time when the humanitarian situation in Gaza is as catastrophic as it’s ever been. Civilians need this war to end.
Louise Wateridge, UNRWA representative in Gaza
I always loved reading. It takes you too places you’ve never been… it teaches you to walk in someone else’s shoes. …And I always loved kids. Reading and kids. That’s why I became a school librarian – until the challenges started coming in.
Susan Ingram, School librarian who resigned.
O Lord, my God, in you I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,
Or like a ion they will tear me apart, drag me awy, with no one to rescue.
Psalm 7: 1-2