Sunday, November 22, 2020
It was a warm sunny day in Washington. On the University of Maryland College Park campus, people were rushing about to get to their next class. All of a sudden I heard someone shout, “The President’s been shot!” The classrooms had televisions for small groups running off large lecture halls. I along with everyone else rushed in to see Walter Cronkite give a news bulletin that President Kennedy had been shot in Dallas.
We were all astounded, and even more so when Cronkite came back on the air with the news that Kennedy was dead. You could see the emotion in his eyes as he then turned to say that Lyndon Johnson and Jackie Kennedy had left the hospital for the airport.
“Government was being improvised in the air,” Cronkite continued as Johnson took the oath of office with the bloodstained widow next to him. In that perilous time, we saw an orderly transition. We now face another perilous time and must stand firm for an orderly transition, one without violence and in keeping with our democratic ideals.
Prayer for the Day
Draw us near so that we listen to your voice, O God,
Setting aside the distractions that can pull us away from you.
Center our restless minds and soothe our anxious hearts
So we respond to your calming voice.
May we become instruments of your peace
Embracing humankind in your name.
In the name of him who showed us how to live,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
All of us whether guilty or not, whether old or young, must accept the past. It is not a case of coming to terms with the past. That is not possible. It cannot be subsequently modified or undone.
Richard von Weiszsächer, President of reunited Germany (1920–2015)
Our true remembrance to President Kennedy is in our actions to honor the unspoken words and to finish the unfinished work for today and tomorrow as long as it takes.
Marian Wright Edelman, advocate and activist for children
Have regard for your covenant,
for the dark places of the land are full of the haunts of violence.
Do not let the downtrodden be put to shame;
let the poor and needy praise your name.
Rise up O God, plead your cause;
remember how the impious scoff at you all day long.
Psalm 74: 20–22