Wholly Innocents

"..and Herod sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and younger..." Matthew 2:16

On the church calendar today is The Holy Innocents. It commemorates those innocent children killed as Herod probed violently for the newborn king foretold by the magi. I'm sure if he had known the term, herod would have called these boys "collateral damage."

Who are the innocents in our day? Who "gets in the way" of our attacks on orthodoxy and heresy? Who suffers as some try to purge the faithful? Who die inside as religion is dismantled heedlessly in the name of progress> Who are the ones that are needlessly destroyed as we go back and forth on what is right? Who are the ones that are gone because we flee in the face of discomfort, conflict, and the hard work of discerning God's will?

I have an idea who they are. How about you?

Pray for them--
O Lord, we hurt people sometimes in your name. It is our sin, and we confess it. Forgive us, and lead us into newness of life. Amen