Last week the world was ripped raw by the shootings in Paris.
We also saw how people rose up in solidarity against the terror which left 20 dead and more than 50 world leaders standing united as they led a march of more than three million people through the streets of France.
We heard remarks that speak to that solidarity.
“We are all Charlie, we are all police, we are all Jews of France” by the French Prime Minister, Manuel Vall and
“I hope that at the end of the day everyone is united. Everyone, Muslims, Jews, Christians, Buddhists. We are humans first of all. And nobody deserves to be murdered like that. Nobody.”
Zakaria Moumni
I don’t normally comment on the news. I don’t seek it out. If it is important enough, it comes to me and I hear about it. In my view, enough opinions, interpretations and stories abound without me adding more hot air.
This is one of the rare exceptions…
And I wonder, ‘Is there another way?’
Some people may be raging
- ‘If there is a God, why does he let it happen?’ Or
- ‘There IS no God! If there was, such things would not happen.’
There was a time when I would have asked similar questions. Then one day it dawned on me that I am expecting God to behave like a human being and God is NOT a human being. How can I possibly expect him to behave like one of us? Think like us? Do what we would do?
We have different points of view
For instance:
Back in hot, dry South Africa, I found it difficult to understand my mother-in-law and her penchant for getting my children wellington boots. It was not until I came to live in damp, wet England ten years later that I ‘got’ it.
During those ten years, wellington boots stood between us. Once I understood her, I could let my gripes about her and wellington boots go. Guess what, it became easier between us because I could see it from her point of view!
If it is so difficult for us to see someone else’s point of view, how much more when it comes to God, the Universe, Allah, Krishna, Buddha, the force or whatever other name you wish to use for the universal intelligence?
Now it is NEVER going to be easy for us to know God’s mind. We can talk of the Divine Plan till the cows come home, but we are not going to know, so we may as well accept that God has our back and rest in that or forever struggle on our own.
What if, instead of asking ‘How can God let that happen?’ we turn it around and ask
‘What in us, the collective human race, allows atrocities like this to happen?’
Unacceptable outrage
Of course it’s an outrage. People lost their lives. Families and communities are grieving. Others are in uproar against what took place. Still others are fomenting more violence in response to the shooting of the perpetrators.
The terror, the drama, the horror of it all will be remembered for generations to come.
The fallout in terms of hate, condemnation and splintering of different groups of nationalists, religions and traditions are enormous. This too will be passed on from generation to generation.
Where will it end?
I don’t have an answer.
The way I see it, enough hot air is being spouted about it already. My judgements, comments and interpretation of events are not going to make one iota of difference. All I can do is bring love, forgiveness and compassion to situations like these.
What if a more appropriate reaction to what happened would be to pray as Jesus did on the cross? ‘Forgive them Father for they know not what they do.’ And to bless their souls, that spark of divinity in them; that spark that is in each and every one of us.
That does not mean we condone the deed. All we’re doing is recognising that the deed is one thing and the person something else. And the deed is most certainly not acceptable.
Justice must prevail and must take its course. The difference is, we distinguish between what was done and who did it.
We judge the deed, not the person. We can still have compassion for the person, attempt to stand in their shoes, see the world from their point of view, ask ‘What compels someone to do something so outrageous?’ and treat them with respect.
A different perspective
What if these atrocities are a blessing in disguise?
Consider for a moment…
When do we call most deeply and urgently on a power beyond ourselves?
I know in my life it has been when I’m in deepest despair.
And when do we rage the most against God? When atrocities like these occur and we demand to know ‘God! How can you let this happen?’
Either way we acknowledge there is a God; something beyond ourselves.
And who knows how many find their way to God through circumstances just like these when they are in the grip of utter despair? And then, when we give over and find a measure of peace, God has us forever hooked, because we know he rescued us from hell.
What if THIS is part of the Divine Plan? To wake us up and make us realise we’ve got the wrong end of the stick? We’ve got God all wrong and upside down. We’ve got life upside down. That what we’re doing is not working? That there is another way and it is time to change?
We don’t know.
What we DO know is that last week’s atrocities present us with another opportunity for forgiveness.
I believe it is compassion and forgiveness that will propel us forward in the evolution of humanity’s consciousness.
Judgement, hate, anger and revenge will keep us stuck in a spiral of continuing violence and atrocities.
Which brings me back to the question:
‘What in us, the collective human race, allows atrocities like this to happen?’
Photo Credit: RgbStock.com
