I rarely bring up current
events here. My work is meant to help people escape from whatever they need to
escape from and current events are often that. But something momentous happened
this week that I’d like to address.
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| from Wikipedia |
Everyone reading this has
probably heard the saying from Mr. Rogers, either first hand or reported later:
“Look for the helpers.” That was his mother’s advice to him when he heard scary
news.
On Monday, we all watched as
Notre Dame burned, the spire fell, we all worried about the priceless treasures
inside, whether we had ever been there to see them, planned to go someday, or
just knew they were there.
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| from Vox article |
The French firefighters, of
course, were the heroes of the day, saving most of the structure and the
artwork. The French people were a close second, singing Ave Maria as theywatched from below. The rest of the world suffered with them and, as soon as
most of the danger was over, even before that, vowed to help rebuild the
magnificent French national symbol.
Did you know that a sacred
mosque also caught fire the same day? The flames were quickly put out and no
real damage was done. This quote that came from the same day is from a Newsweek
article on it:
The Palestine News Agency reported that Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas' office "expressed its deep regret Monday over the
fire that broke out at the historic Notre Dame Cathedral in the center of the
French capital of Paris, which caused the collapse of the cathedral tower."
"The Presidency confirmed its solidarity and
sympathy with our friends in France over this incident," the outlet added.
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| Dome of the Rock from Wikipedia |
More good helpers.
Notre Dame will be rebuilt
and will probably be just as grand and awe inspiring as it ever was. Here’s another
thing. There are a few other churches that recently burned that need a lot of
help. The Notre Dame fire actually sparked (pun intended) a spike in donations
to help the three Louisiana churches that were totally destroyed by a hateful
lunatic. In fact, millions of euros have been donated overnight!
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| William Widmer New York Times |
The helpers are always there.
Most people are good at heart and try to do the right thing whenever they can.
We don’t hear about them because they don’t make good spectacular splashy
headlines. But they’re always there. And they far outnumber people who would
burn down churches because of the color of the skin of the worshippers.
Good things to point out at a sad time. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome. Thanks for commenting.
DeleteWhen I heard Notre Dame was burning, I sat and sobbed. I've never seen it, but I felt like it belongs to me and to the world. I'm glad it can be rebuilt. It was kind of Abbas to express sympathy. I hope we did the same. And by "we" I mean the U.S. as well as other countries.
ReplyDelete