Lavinia

I am perplexed by the consistent reports of certain congressmen saying they will read the list of people spoken of as perpetrators of evil in the Epstein files. Yet we move on without this happening. Great monied interests seem to be influencing what we can or cannot be privilege to. And those girls who were raped and abused are now women still being silenced. They have been threatened and their lives have been put on hold. While those that committed these horrific crimes are still in positions of power and continue to accrue wealth. So, when I read proverbs 28:13 saying “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper” I must realize that this is not focusing completely on money. A price will be paid.

In the play Titus Andronicus by Shakespeare, we see a similar depiction of such evil played out in graphic extremes. We see opposing factions seeking vengeance for wrongs suffered. As an act of revenge, two brothers rape Lavinia, the daughter of Titus Andronicus. To conceal their crime, they cut off Lavinia’s hands and cut out her tongue so she cannot reveal who her attackers were. Despite her inability to speak or write, Lavinia uses a staff to write the names of her attackers in the sand and points to a story in a book to communicate her violation. The brothers are killed by Titus and their bones ground to dust and baked in a pie and fed to the mother of the two rapists. Horror filled and graphic. But so was the initial crime.

We can look at all that has been done to the victims of Epstein and his cronies and see that they have been similarly violated as Lavinia was. To this point their words speaking to their abusers are as if they cannot be heard. Their voices have been silenced in that no amount of sharing the horrid details and pointing to the abusers can be heard. They to this point have been muted. Their hands cannot point to those who perpetrated these horrific acts of child sexual abuse because these despicable men are cloaked with a veil of secrecy from powerful interests. Even from some beyond Epstein and Trump that will probably surprise many. Countries like England, Norway, France, Poland, and Slovakia have started prosecution of men involved with Epstein yet here in America there seems to be no end of excuses and cover up for those who committed this evil. We have watched as one of the architects of the Epstein crimes, Ghislaine Maxwell, has been moved to a much more comfortable jail and is listening to talk of a pardon from Trump. And the woman who brought much of this crime to light, Virginia Maxwell, committed suicide. It’s no longer who will speak for her. Who will demand justice?

We read in Numbers 23 that your sin will find you out. And Jesus tells us in Luke 8:17, “For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to the light.” Yet will we see these women cast aside and ignored while men of privilege use their power and money to cover their crime? Will it be no different from Lavinia who was mutilated to be kept silent? Or will these women find their cries heard even if they must point to a story or draw names in the sand to expose their violators? It is time for this to be unveiled. It is past time for so many in the church to stand and say no more. This evil will be judged. I pray we continue to pray without ceasing. I pray we stand. Blessings.