The words to today’s song are taken from Psalm 137. It’s a song of sorrow and rage from the mouth of a refugee whose city has been destroyed. The sorrow portion of the psalm is extremely famous and often quoted – ”How can we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?” The rage portion of the psalm is less often brought up – “O daughter of Babylon … happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth they little ones against the stones.”

I can’t imagine the sorrow and rage of the people whose lands have been overrun by Isis, whose family and friends are murdered, whose culture is being destroyed.



This song is not a policy prescription. The last lines should evoke horror. But the emotions behind the words are ancient and real.



Mosul is a part of our heritage, part of the world’s heritage, and the loss of its history is heartbreaking.