Rubens – Massacre of the Innocents
As the story is told in the Gospel of Matthew, in the time of King Herod, Magi from the East came to Palestine looking for a new King who had been born. “We saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” Matthew 2:2
Magi were priests in Zoroastrianism and the earlier religions of the western Iranians. The earliest known use of the word magi is in the trilingual inscription written by Darius the Great, known as the Behistun Inscription. Old Persian texts, predating the Hellenistic period, refer to a magus as a Zurvanic, and presumably Zoroastrian, priest.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magi
The Magi had come to Palestine, following a new star in the sky—a star whose light from millions of miles away had just arrived in the Solar system.
They came before King Herod, asking about the new King. Herod had not heard of this King, but asked the Magi, on their return home, to tell him the whereabouts of this new King, so that Herod could go honor him. In time, Herod realized that the Magi were not returning by way of Jerusalem and ordered the deaths of all boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according to the time frame he had learned from the Magi. Joseph, the husband of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, was warned of this slaughter in a dream, and took his family to Egypt.
History calls this time the “Massacre of the Innocents”. This was the world into which Jesus was born.
This is our time, also. The American President, who after a telephone call, removed American troops from Syria; so that the Turkish military could slaughter Kurdish infants, children, women, the elderly and the Kurdish soldiers who defended their homeland. This portion of Syria is now being claimed by the Turkish and Russian governments. The American President’s first Secretary of Defense is now awaiting his sentencing for being an undeclared agent of the Turkish Government, employed by the Turkish government…
Lives ruined for generations because of a stupid telephone call and an undisclosed discussion. The results of that discussion will be on the head of the American President.
In another chapter of “Massacre of the Innocents”, new information has been released regarding children kidnapped by the American government, as they seek asylum in a country that officially does not want them to come here.
“In all, the administration has taken at least 5,460 children from their parents. That is a stain on Mr. Trump, on the government he leads and on America.”
Back when dinosaurs ruled the earth, I remember listening to President Ronald Reagan describe America as a ‘city shining on a hill’ as he ended his tenure as President. His ‘trickle down’ economic policy has turned out to be a total disaster; and he spoke of a country that does not appear to exist today:
“I’ve spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don’t know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind, it was a tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept, God blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace – a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity, and if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors, and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c32G868tor0
Those doors are closed today.
President Clinton was impeached for his actions on two Articles of Impeachment: Lying Under Oath and Obstruction of Justice. No one died as a result of his violation of his Oath of Office.
It’s doubtful that the President’s actions toward Syria and his cruelty to those seeking asylum will be included in the upcoming Articles of Impeachment, and the Impeachment Hearing that may start later this month. These crimes are merely immoral, not illegal.
Lives ruined for generations that, in reality, are not only the responsibility of the President, but are the responsibility of every American adult living at this moment. We allowed it to happen. There are people at the church I attend that do not even consider these immoralities to be wrong…
I again wonder, why do I stay?
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Chronicles in Ordinary Time 