The daily news from Iraq is mind-numbing, as violence and death continue unabated. And part of that numbing is the danger of seeing the daily body counts as just more numbers. As of yesterday morning, 3,503 Americans have died.
So, I’ve made reading the news each morning into a spiritual discipline. I read the names in the almost daily U.S. casualty lists aloud and say a prayer for these young men and women, their families and friends. Each one of them is a unique child of God, with unique experiences and lives, now gone. Lifting them in prayer has become a way to lament the continuing deaths.
The latest names released in yesterday’s Washington Post and New York Times:

Chadrick O. Domino, 23
Jeremiah C. Costello, 22
Keith V. Nepsa, 21
William J. Crouch, 21
Joshua D. Brown, 26
Shawn E. Dressler, 22
Ryan A. Balmer, 33
Matthew J, Kuglics, 25
James C. Akin, 23
Caleb P. Christopher, 25
Greg P. Gagarin, 38
Tyler J. Kritz, 21
Robert A. Surber, 24

Kyrie Eleison
Lord, have mercy
And although I will never know their names, the death count of Iraqis is rising even faster. In yesterday’s news:

– two car bombs exploded near a revered Shiite shrine in Baghdad, killing seven people and wounding 25
– at least 17 others were killed and 13 wounded in mortar attacks, drive-by shootings and other violence across the country
– police in Baghdad found 34 bodies, all shot in the head and bearing signs of torture
– at least 167 bodies have been found in Baghdad in the first six days of June

Along with the deaths:

– The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees reported that more than 4.2 million Iraqis had been forced from their homes by violence in Iraq, including about 2 million who had been displaced inside the country and about 2.2 million who had fled as refugees to neighboring countries.

Kyrie Eleison
Lord, have mercy