Rachel weeps

Today's news of the tragedies in Yemen and Pakistan cannot help calling to mind Jeremiah 31: 15 -- This is what the LORD says: "A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more."

That is the passage quoted in Matthew 2:18 in reference to the story of Herod's destruction of the innocent children of Bethlehem in his effort to secure his own power by destroying the child Jesus. There is, by the way, no mention of any such event outside of the Bible. The story was easy for people to believe, however, given Herod's deserved reputation for murdering even family members he perceived as threats.

When there is a school shooting or other event that leads to large-scale death of children, Christians naturally think of the innocents of Bethlehem. As we should, because whatever the historicity of that particular event, there is no doubt that throughout history and to our own day, the powerful often willingly destroy even children in order to maintain themselves. 

Whether children die at the hands of terrorists, at the hands of an armed mental patient, at the hands of a frightened and confused police officer or are allowed to die of hunger and disease because those who have much refuse to share what they have, the story is still the same. Wealth, power, perceived (often mis-perceived) personal and national security -- in the name of all these, innocents die daily and most of their suffering goes unnoticed by those of us who have power, wealth, comfort and security. We shake our heads and change nothing.

No wonder Rachel weeps.