Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the LORD hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger. Is it...: or, It is nothing pass by: Heb. pass by the way?
Lamentations 1:12 (KJV)
The prophet’s cry rings across a landscape of broken supply lines, rubble searches, disease, displacement, and systems that fail the poorest among us. These are not abstract sorrows but particular griefs—families separated by frontlines, loved ones buried in ruins, workers stripped of dignity, the sick unable to afford care. When we read the day’s news, we are invited not to explain or justify these sufferings, but to see them truly, to let them trouble us. To pass by unmoved is perhaps the only response the ancient poet will not permit. The question ‘Is it nothing to you?’ asks whether our hearts remain open enough to bear witness to what breaks in this world.
What prompted this
Today's headlines reveal a world fractured by conflict, disease, and displacement—from trapped civilians cut off from supplies to families recovering remains from rubble, from disease outbreaks claiming lives to the vulnerable being priced out of healthcare and justice. The dominant note is one of urgent human suffering amid systems that strain to contain it.
- To stay or risk the 'Road of Death' - Ukrainian civilians trapped in frontline city BBC World
- BBC traces how 10 minutes of Israeli bombing brought devastation to Lebanon BBC World
- Bowen: Strait of Hormuz standoff raises risk of sliding back into all-out war BBC World
- Vivek Ramaswamy wins Republican nomination for Ohio governor BBC World
- A new Medicare option for weight loss drugs is coming: Here's what to know NPR News
- Poll: Trump blamed for gas prices as Democrats gain midterm edge NPR News
- Lindsey Vonn's Olympic crash was a horrific setback. But she's never been one to hide NPR News
- Skeletons in their clothing: Recovering bodies from the rubble in Gaza NPR News
- British crew member in need of urgent medical care amid suspected hantavirus outbreak on cruise ship The Guardian
- Nigerian refinery accused of sacking union members is key to UK plan to tackle jet fuel shortage The Guardian