Prayer Thread

[Primula Baggins]

Jewel, I am so sorry.

[Inanna]

I am so sorry, JS.

[Impenitent]

: ( . I'm so sorry, Jewel.

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[Frelga]

So very sorry to hear, Jewel.

[Teremia]

That's such terrible and sad news, Jewel. I'm sorry!

[JewelSong]

Thank you, all. It just sucks. I went to the funeral service and today went to one of the shivas held at a friend's house. I was able to visit a little bit with one of Barbara's daughters and her sister and brother-in-law, who had flown in from Israel as soon as they heard the news. It will take me a long time to get used to her being gone, because I didn't see her all the time.

It's rare that you gain a new friend in your 50s, and I don't have that many real friends. Barbara was one-of-a-kind and lived life to the fullest. May I continue to follow her example.

[Lalaith]

[Primula Baggins]

Jewel, you already are that kind of example for me.

[Impenitent]

Sending you love, Jewel. You are my role model for how to embrace life and live it to the full.

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[Frelga]

IAWI

I'm sorry for your loss, Jewel. Barbara sounds like the kind of a friend whose absence can never be filled.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Sending prayers and what good energy I can muster to the good people of Brussels.

[Lalaith]

Me too, Voronwë. Me too.

[Frelga]

And now Lahore.
How do we stop them?

[Teremia]

I know. Somehow Lahore has just tipped me into despair. What can be done? Really. What can we do, apart from not repeating the mistake of the Iraq War in the future? And how likely is it that we will not repeat that?
Those poor kids playing in the park!

[Impenitent]

There is no longer any corner of the world where one can feel truly secure from this kind of violent act of hate, nowhere where one can hide, no sanctuary.

Probably, this was always the case but it feels like the ground has shifted, that the maelstrom has intensified.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Not to downplay the horror of Lepore, or Brussels, or Ankara, or Paris, or the Grand-Bassam Ivory Coast beach attack, or San Bernardino, or Charleston, or any of the other recent horrendous acts of cowardly, despicable violence, but this type of thing has been going on for a long time. Think about the IRA's bombing campaign as well as other splinter groups on both sides, which probably involved more attacks than al-Qaeda and ISIS and other Islamic terrorist groups combined have committed. The biggest difference now is that the world is so much a smaller place that anything that happens anywhere seems more immediate. But to paraphrase a bad movie line, there is still good in the world, and it worth fighting for. Even if the "fight" involves no more than (to quote another bad movie line) "the small every day deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love."

[Pearly Di]

I know. Somehow Lahore has just tipped me into despair. What can be done? Really. What can we do, apart from not repeating the mistake of the Iraq War in the future? And how likely is it that we will not repeat that?

The Taliban have promised more Lahore-type horrors to come. *shudder* Persecution of Christians in that region has been going on for a LONG time, and the Taliban now say they will deliberately target schools. They seem to be gunning particularly for the Christian community at the moment, but obviously other groups will get caught in the crossfire.

Think about the IRA's bombing campaign as well as other splinter groups on both sides, which probably involved more attacks than al-Qaeda and ISIS and other Islamic terrorist groups combined have committed.

About 3,000 people died in the Troubles over a period of thirty years: that's pretty much the same number who were murdered in such a monstrous fashion on 9/11. The bestial horror of 9/11 surpassed all the horror I'd ever felt over the IRA bombings. I remember very well the fear and disgust engendered by the IRA's campaign, but honestly, I regard the current crop of Islamist terrorists as far, far worse. I will never, ever, excuse the IRA (and their nutty successors, the Real IRA, who are still out there) but those guys never did suicide bombings or mass shootings. Ever. (We have a dark joke here in the UK about the IRA, "Well, at least those guys gave warnings!" It's true: they used to call the police before timing the explosions.)

Also: it turned out that we could actually negotiate with the IRA, in the end. (Some of them became respectable politicians as a result. )

... But to paraphrase a bad movie line, there is still good in the world, and it worth fighting for. Even if the "fight" involves no more than (to quote another bad movie line) "the small every day deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love."

Yes. Just goes to show that even bad movie lines can be redeemed.

Jesus said, 'blessed are the peacemakers'. That's a good thing to aim to be, on an individual, community and global level. I want to be one of those.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I saw this chart today which I think helps illustrate the point I was trying to make:

[yovargas]

Thank you for that, V-man. I so very very very much wish the media would mention stuff like this when major attacks happen. If they did, maybe so many people wouldn't be making decisions based on irrational fears.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Thanks, yov. I'm glad you said that, because I had some trepidation about posting that here, but I think it is important to keep things in perspective.

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