Suffer the little children

I ask you to remember four girls today. 

On Sunday, Sept. 15, 1963 at about 10:24 a.m., 26 children were walking into the basement assembly room of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., for a sermon entitled “The Love That Forgives,” when a bomb exploded.

Four girls:

• Addie Mae Collins (aged 14)
• Denise McNair (aged 11)
• Carole Robertson (aged 14)
• Cynthia Wesley (aged 14)

were killed in the attack, and 22 additional people were injured, one of whom was Addie Mae Collins' younger sister, Sarah.

The explosion blew a hole in the church's rear wall, destroyed the back steps and all but one stained-glass window, which showed Christ leading a group of little children.

But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19:14 NRSV

The explosion at the African-American church marked a turning point in the U.S. 1960s Civil Rights Movement and contributed to support for passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Why I am I thinking of them today? I saw this photo of Denise McNair and her doll.

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away. Revelation 21:4 NRSV