Be the Light
Be the Light in the World
January greetings!
Saturday, January 27 was International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Why January 27th you might ask? Well, it was on that day in 1945 that the Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated by the Red Army. Such acts were purely demonic – the epitome of evil which resulted in the genocide of a third of the Jewish people, along with countless members of minorities by Nazi Germany between 1933 and 1945.
Last summer, on a study trip to Germany, my colleague Michael took us to the platform in Grunewald, on the outskirts of Berlin - there Jews were loaded onto cattle-cars and sent to Auschwitz. It was eerie to visit the memorial and see the tracks that led so many to their death. On 29th January, 1943 the last train load of 1,000 Jews from Berlin departed from that station.
Today, neo-Nazism is on the rise across Europe and here in these United States. I can understand the tensions in the middle east, but right here in New York City as well? And such acts of hatred are not only reserved for Jews, everyone else or the “other” is also being subjected to the same discrimination and hatred.
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his Letter from the Birmingham Jail addressing some clergymen questioning his civil rights protests wrote, “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people, but the silence over that by the good people.”
Do not be silent - shine the light on the evil around you, but most of all, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:21)
Saturday, January 27 was International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Why January 27th you might ask? Well, it was on that day in 1945 that the Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated by the Red Army. Such acts were purely demonic – the epitome of evil which resulted in the genocide of a third of the Jewish people, along with countless members of minorities by Nazi Germany between 1933 and 1945.
Last summer, on a study trip to Germany, my colleague Michael took us to the platform in Grunewald, on the outskirts of Berlin - there Jews were loaded onto cattle-cars and sent to Auschwitz. It was eerie to visit the memorial and see the tracks that led so many to their death. On 29th January, 1943 the last train load of 1,000 Jews from Berlin departed from that station.
Today, neo-Nazism is on the rise across Europe and here in these United States. I can understand the tensions in the middle east, but right here in New York City as well? And such acts of hatred are not only reserved for Jews, everyone else or the “other” is also being subjected to the same discrimination and hatred.
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his Letter from the Birmingham Jail addressing some clergymen questioning his civil rights protests wrote, “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people, but the silence over that by the good people.”
Do not be silent - shine the light on the evil around you, but most of all, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:21)
The Rev. Romeo K. Dabee
JFK Airport Community Minister
JFK Airport Community Minister
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