Pray For Paris
By now, I’m sure you’ve heard about the horrific events that occurred in Paris on Friday. It’s heart breaking. It’s frightening. It’s hard to imagine. Pray for Paris.
Late Friday afternoon, when we were all first hearing about what happened and getting information, my family was on the way out of town. We were all in the car. It was hard to hear the news, wrap our heads around it, and make sense of it. We were glued to the news and couldn’t stop listening. I wanted to protect my children from hearing the painful stories being shared by survivors, but at the same time, knew they needed to hear it. The longer we listened, the more anxious the kids got.
“Is this making you nervous?” I asked them.
“Yes,” said Avi, who is thirteen. “I don’t understand why someone would want to hurt innocent people. It makes me feel scared.”
“Innocent people who were just going out on a Friday night,” said Zoe, who is sixteen, “And now they’re never coming home.”
It is hard to understand. It is scary. It is anxiety provoking.
I pray for Paris. I pray for all of us.
We tried to answer their questions, struggling to figure it out for ourselves at the same time. Paris isn’t some far away land. We were just there this past summer. It’s a city we love. We can close our eyes and see the magical streets of Paris, the streets we were on, the streets where innocent people were murdered. What happened in Paris on Friday could have easily happened in Paris when we were there. It could have been us.
We turned the news off, talked about it with the girls, and soon they put on their earphones. They needed to zone out to their music. They had enough. It was more than they could take, almost more than any of us could take.
After a few minutes, I turned the news back on. I knew the girls couldn’t hear it, and I wanted to follow the story.
It was hard to listen to it, hear the details coming in, but harder not to listen. I remember feeling this way after 9/11. I was glued to the TV for days. We all were.
Bad things happen everyday. We know this. It’s part of life. But, it’s especially hard to make sense out of bad things that happen on purpose, because of other people. Because, it doesn’t make sense. What happened in France is pure evil. There is no rational explanation. It is heartbreaking. It reminds us of the uncertainty of life, and this is frightening to accept. Anything can happen to anyone at anytime. Period.
We have to have faith that good will prevail. We have to have faith that evil will be destroyed. We have to have hope.
I pray for Paris. I pray for our children. I pray for all of us.
Find meaning each day,
Dara
If you liked this post, check out https://crazyperfectlife.com/life-is-uncertain/
Don’t forget to subscribe to the blog!
2 Comments
View Dara's Other Books
Not since the late ’30s, in Europe, have we faced such a growing and frightening international threat. We need to develop a plan now, with our allies around the world, to eliminate this threat in its infancy. We need to mobilize the peace loving Islamic world to bring pressure on and control over their radicalized elements, those at the extremist fringes of their religious society. We can and must all co-exist in peace, with understanding and acceptance. Those who cannot co-exist must be eliminated.
Very well said. These are uncertain times, and you’re right, we need to establish a plan now. I pray for peace, for all of us.