“After such knowledge, what forgiveness?” (Gerontion. T.S. Elliot)
The ravages that we have suffered and endorsed over the last decade have turned death into a constant, persistent element in our lives. Families are fractured and scarred forever by cruel loss. We observe funerals too numerous to bear. Our youth knows death, intimately. So how can they forgive? The ravages are ongoing, fierce, revengeful and wildly, madly futile, leaving nothing but destruction, desolation and heartbreak.
The angels look down aghast at the wreckage. They bring no message of hope or consolation. They are horrified witnesses of the insanity of the fighting and the venom of power-hungry politicians.
The angels do not control or influence our earthly depravity. But surely they denounce our wasteland.
