The final verse of this scripture passage grabbed me and made me think of this summer's terrible gun violence. "O that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I might weep day and night for the slain of my poor people!" Life was unraveling in Jeremiah's day, and the Babylonians would soon destroy Jerusalem. But the political and religious leaders kept saying, "Don't worry, everything will be fine. We're God's special people. Nothing bad will happen to us." Jeremiah told them otherwise, but no one listened. The people did not want to hear his hard truths. People haven't changed all that much over the centuries. We still don't want to listen to people like Jeremiah, but he has much to teach about faith.