Today is the feast day of Joan of Arc, commemorating the death of the young peasant woman who galvanized a nation. Feast days are tied into the deaths of saints, not their births as is our custom in America. Joan lived in a brutal time when the English tried to rule France. She is remembered in Saint Joan by George Bernard Shaw, the Irish playwright who also had much to say about the English and their abuse of power.
Joan’s sacrifice at the stake is but one reminder of the sacrifice of many women and men who gave their lives for a cause. After she died, the English raked the coals, burned the body and scattered the ashes into the Seine. Many of our war dead also have no cemeteries to commemorate them; they, too, died on a field or in a jungle, their bodies destroyed by the elements. But, like Joan, their sacrifice is remembered.
We always hope for a time when war will not be the answer to questions of political power. We always hope for nonviolence as a method of obtaining liberation, but we also know that in this world, such is not the case. Tyrants and dictators do not give up power easily. Thus, it seems there is always the need for sacrifice.
Prayer for the Day
Grant us peace, your most precious gift, O Eternal Creator,
And enable us to be your messengers of peace to all;
Lift us up to the radiance of your Presence so we may breathe freely
And become a stronghold of peace in the council of nations.
Free us from ungenerous judgments and presumptive claims,
So we better understand the desires of others unlike ourselves.
In the name of him who welcomes all,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
There are memories that time does not erase... Forever does not make loss forgettable, only bearable.
Cassandra Clare, American young adult fiction writer
Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.
Martin Luther King, martyr (1929-1968)
My heart is firm, O God, let me sing with my inward being.
Awake, O lute and lyre; I would awaken the dawn;
Let me acclaim you among the peoples, O Lord, and among all the nations.
Psalm 108: 1-4.