I’m sure there are none of you who are not aware of the terrible events of Friday night in Paris.
I didn’t want to let the moment pass without making a comment – but had no idea what to say. However another blogger – a young lady who I met in Paris, at the Convention – has managed to say, simply, but rather well, what I am feeling. I direct you to Naomi’s blog post We Will Be the Hopeful.
I commented on the post to say: You are right, I think, that the terrorists want to do what their name suggests: spread terror. But if we can be the hopeful – offering hope, peace, faith & love – in a world that is full of fear, war,and hatred then we are following the path that Christ first showed us. We know that Life has conquered Death: we now need to go out and live this knowledge.
But among all the justified “Pray for Paris” FB posts there was another that rang true for me:
Every human death diminishes us a little: as John Donne wrote: Any (hu)man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind
I know that this seems more horrific because it is so close to home – Beirut is a continent away (and, anyway, they’re used to it!) (irony alert!) but ANY human death caused by another’s hatred or lust for power is a terrible event, and we must remember this.
View from the Teapot 
Well said. By their actions they are trying to make us so scared that we stop helping the innocent refugees just because a few sneaky terrorists try to get into countries through that route.x
YES, to all you posted.
I’d heard about the incident in Beirut: it wasn’t given much coverage, and it isn’t generally known that the number of deaths would have been much higher if it hadn’t been for the brave actions of one man, Adel Termo, who tackled one of the suicide bombers. He lost his own life in the process but he saved many more. An unsung hero who wasn’t mentioned in the mainstream press at the time.