The Way of Truth and Love

I am especially looking forward to morning prayer these days because we are reading from the book of Judith, which relates how King Nebuchadnezzar dispatched the general-in-chief of his forces, Holofernes, to conquer the world, a job he relished and accomplished with great cruelty, until he came across the Israelites. It’s like listening to a serial on the radio or a drama on TV—you can’t wait to see what’s going to happen next. Because “all of Israel cried to God with great fervor and did penance…[and] the Lord heard their cry and had regard for their distress,” I have a pretty good idea about how the story will end, with the overthrow of Holofernes and the delivery of the Israelites from his hands. As we hear over and over again in scripture, God hears the cry of the oppressed and responds with mercy and lovingkindness.

In this story from Judith, it so happened that a single woman was the instrument God used to defeat the oppressors of the Israelites. Last Friday night, I had the opportunity to watch a documentary, Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai, about a woman from our own times who was instrumental in delivering her people from a Kenyan ruler who oppressed the people and exploited the environment. The stories of these two women remind me of a statement by Mohandas Gandhi: “When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it—always.” Often it takes just one person of tremendous faith, courage, and ingenuity to help people overthrow their oppressors. We should rouse ourselves to support them so we, too, can be instruments of God’s compassion.