Sadly, this will be an Easter forever burned into the heart of Stephanie Diller. She buried her police officer husband, Jonathan Diller, who was shot by a repeat criminal who should not have been on the streets.
In a deeply moving eulogy, Stephanie fell back on the values of faith, family and freedom. She shared with the mourners what a wonderful man her hero husband was. She described how proud he was when she gave birth to their son, Ryan, who was born one year ago.
Stephanie then turned to her Christian faith. She said one of the things she most yearned to see again, but wouldn't see until she was in heaven with her husband, was the look on Jonathan's face the day they were joined in marriage.
This grieving widow had something else to say, too, about how we are losing our freedom because we are no longer safe.
She singled out far-left progressives at all levels of government who let criminals out of jail without bail while at the same time undermining police.
"How many more police officers and how many families need to make the ultimate sacrifice before we start protecting them?" she asked. Thousands of police officers who stood outside the church were asking the same question.
It's striking that yet again we see American Christians rising to the occasion. Jonathan Diller rose to the occasion every day he went out onto the streets, as do thousands of American police officers.
But in her grief, Stephanie Diller showed righteous anger. She took the time to go back and read the eulogies other police wives had written for their fallen husbands. Many of them also asked when our government would wake up and protect the people who keep us safe.
This righteous anger is rising all over America. We see it Laken Riley's parents, who blame the failure to secure our borders as the direct cause of their daughter's murder at the hands of a criminal migrant. We see it in the father who cried out, "Abbey Gate," from the House gallery during Biden's State of the Union address. His son died in the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan ordered by President Biden.
It was also shown when the men at St. Patrick's Cathedral, though not enough of them, jumped up and removed the pro-genocidal demonstrators who interrupted the midnight Easter mass. This was just the latest incident of violence and disruption in America's churches.
If we are going to save America from the secular, neo-Marxist Left, more men and women of faith must stand and fight for our values. Meanwhile, please join the JDFI team in praying for all the first responders who put their lives on the line every day to keep our communities safe.