We Are Herod

I woke up to images of children being tear gassed.
Babies in agony.
Mother’s with no power to protect.
Men in protective gear at war
with the most vulnerable among us.

Is it only two thousand eighteen years ago
that a baby threatened an empire?
That children were slaughtered in the name of fear?
Are we really going to do this again?
and again?
and again?
and again?

This is who we are:
We are Herod
We are Rome
We are  empire perpetrating itself
on the backs of the powerless
whose only sin is hope.

We are no longer a shining city on a hill.
We are soldiers following orders
marching again to Nuremberg

If there is any redemption
we will find it in the tent cities
where children have no place to lay their heads
we will find it in the desert
where families are fleeing violence and oppression
we will only find it where others refuse to look.

And if we do not find the Sacred in
the weary travelers at our border
may we, like Herod
be overthrown by our arrogance.