Wednesday January 27, 2021
Social distancing and riots really don’t go together. If you look at the photos of the marauders at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, you’ll see that few, very few of the rioters had masks. It’s hard to keep a mask on when you are beating a policeman to death with a fire extinguisher.
But now, there’s another fallout from that display of pseudo-patriotism: at least 38 Capitol policeman now are testing positive for the virus. And it is the case that quite a few of the D.C. policemen who were called in to help also now test positive.
Those maskless wonders who ransacked offices and Senate and House Chambers are being tracked down and arrested. They, too, should be tested to make sure they don’t spread more than their racist and xenophobic ideology. Should any test positive, they will be cared for and receive medical treatment because that’s what civilized people do, even for rioters.
Prayer for the Day
In this dead of winter, O God, we long to maintain hope,
The kind of hope that we have when we see forced bulbs in a market;
The bright yellow of mini daffodils and soft violet of a crocus
Remind us of the spring and new life to come.
Be with us, O Lord, so that our fears do not lead us to despair,
But open our hearts so we respond to your call for peace.
In the name of him who is our foundation,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall.
- Mohandas Gandhi, leader in nonviolence (1869-1948)
But what we call our despair is often only the painful eagerness of unfed hope.
- George Eliot, British novelist (1819-1880)
May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy,
Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing,
Shall come home with shouts of joy bearing their sheaves.
Psalm 126: 5-6