December 28 is the day of The Holy Innocents, Martyrs. It is rooted in a usually-ignored passage in Matthew's Christmas story, in which King Herod attempts to kill the newly-born Christ child by killing "all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under." Joseph, though, has been warned in a dream that this will happen. And so, he takes Mary and the child and they flee to Egypt until Herod's reign is over. (See Matthew 2:13-23.)

Where does this story come from? There are obvious roots in the story in Exodus of Moses. There, the Pharoah finally allowed Moses lead the people of God out of slavery in Egypt because, (according to the story!), God kills all the first born Egyptian children. But the spirit of death passes over the Hebrews' homes (passover), and their children are spared. The gospel of Matthew came out of a community of practicing Jews, people who would have known that story well. And, we see in other places in the gospel of Matthew, that Jesus is presented as the new Moses, sent to deliver God's people, just as Moses delivered the people from slavery in Egypt.

Be that Biblical scholarship as it may, today -- the day of The Holy Innocents, Martyrs -- is a day that yanks us away from the romanticism of the cultural Christmas season, and to center in prayer for children in our world who are in danger or at risk. Once again, as did the theme of two days ago,if we are formed by the Biblical story, our Christian faith does not provide escape from the world, but engagement with the world.

And so, what can we do for children who are endangered in war? What can we do for the children of Iraq and Afghanistan and Palestine and Somalia? What can we do for children in refugee camps? Closer to home, as citizens of Virginia, how does this form our response to Governor Kaine's proposal to provide universal pre-school to all children of the Commonwealth? It costs us nearly $40,000 to imprison each criminal each year. It seems obvious to me that we should try spending a fraction of that to benefit each child during his or her first, formative years. How much stronger we would be, as a state, if even a fraction more children grew to be productive citizens!

God became human, as a helpless child! Today our attention is turned to children who are in danger. Hopefully, our concern is not as fleeting as a single day. What form will your engagement take?