August 4

On this date in 1789, the French National Constituent Assembly abolished feudalism, with its system of lordship and serfs. 

And on this date in 1944, the Gestapo arrested Anne Frank and her family in Amsterdam. 

Today in 1912, Raoul Wallenberg was born in Sweden. During World War 2 he served as a Swedish envoy to Hungary, and he helped thousands of Jews escape Nazi persecution by issuing them Swedish passports. At one point he calmly handed out passports to dozens of Jews who had just been loaded into train cars while soldiers fired warning shots over his head, and then ordered the prisoners off the train and into waiting Swedish automobiles. He was captured by the Russian army and disappeared in 1945, and was likely executed under mysterious circumstances. 

Today marks the birth, in 1810, of Robert Purvis, abolitionist and women’s suffrage activist whose home became a station on the Underground Railroad. He narrowly escaped being killed by a mob during the Lombard Street riot in Pennsylvania when an Irish Catholic priest talked them down.

Reflection:

Anne Frank wrote: 

“Riches, prestige, everything can be lost. But the happiness in your own heart can only be dimmed; it will always be there, as long as you live, to make you happy again. Whenever you're feeling lonely or sad, try going to the loft on a beautiful day and looking outside. Not at the houses and the rooftops, but at the sky. As long as you can look fearlessly at the sky, you'll know that you're pure within and will find happiness once more.”

Prayer: God of abundance, help us to look for happiness in the things that do not perish. Amen.