Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me.
Lamentations 3:19-20 (KJV)
To witness suffering—whether it arrives as flood, heat, conflict, or the veneration of those who committed atrocity—is to be confronted with a kind of spiritual vertigo. The question that emerges from a day like this is not whether we can fix all that is broken, but whether we have the courage to remember truly, to refuse amnesia, and to let that remembrance humble us into solidarity with those who cannot speak. There is a prayer in bearing witness without looking away.
What prompted this
Today's headlines show a world fractured by violence, natural disaster, and the glorification of atrocity—from war crimes memorialized by thousands to rising extremism, collapsing infrastructure, and indifference to suffering across borders. The contrast between open mourning and enforced silence, between those who remember and those who are forgotten, weighs heavily.
- Germany's far-right AfD says 'democracy demands' parties work with them after state election win BBC World
- Thousands turn out in Serbia for funeral of 'Butcher of Bosnia' Ratko Mladić BBC World
- Israeli strikes in southern Lebanese village kill 12 BBC World
- Probe begins into why cargo plane overran Miami runway BBC World
- As Nepal identifies those killed in the floods, questions grow over China's reporting NPR News
- 5 dead after crash at Miami Airport. And, Germany's far-right wins state election NPR News
- 'Her body temperature was 106': How heat is killing Americans in their homes NPR News
- The first day of school: Bells, bikes, buses and big feelings NPR News
- Weather tracker: Typhoon Saudel causes mass evacuations in south-east China The Guardian
- Egyptian TV presenter among 12 sentenced to death for drug crime The Guardian