There are times we feel overwhelmed by the past, not just the events, but our memories of them. We are told “Never forget” because the face of evil can confront us at any time and usually when and where we least expect it to. Thirty years ago this week, Hutus in Rwanda began a massacre of Tutsis, neighbors killing neighbors. We ask ourselves, how is such a thing possible?
It’s easier to put such events out of our minds when they are seen as history, something we only read about, more difficult when we can remember such events in our own lifetimes. At that time we were still consumed by the ethnic war in what was once Yugoslavia. It seems that hatred is easy to foment and difficult to contain.
Not all hatreds are necessarily ethnic although much of the political vitriol we are now hearing targets persons not as human beings but as members of this group or that, such as Muslims, immigrants, or trans. Then it’s easier to create the fear that leads to hate and its consequences. As Christians, we must speak out against this vitriol which poisons the mind and spirit. We can do nothing less.
Prayer for the Day
Wanting to believe that hate belongs to another time,
We shut our eyes and ears to events of our day;
Thinking that the fear of the other cannot control our lives,
We shrug off the dangers of targeted speech.
Shake us loose from our complacency, O God,
And awaken us to the dangers of those who would mold hate.
In the name of the One who crossed the borders of his time,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
We must stand together, united in solidarity against the targeting, demonization, and vilification of any group of people.
Linda Sarsour, American political activist
Fear of the unknown and the other is the root of almost all hate. It is born of ignorance and fed by those who would keep us divided.
Tinnekke Bebout, American author
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
When evildoers assail me to devour my flesh –
My adversaries and foes – they shall stumble and fall.
Psalm 27: 1-2