While
the Paris nightmare was going on last weekend I was safe in Los Angeles with my
son Caleb and my daughter-in-law Kameron and my little grandchildren Avery and
Austin. It was the weekend of Avery’s 6th birthday and we all had
such a nice time together.
I
caught glimpses of the terrorist attack on my phone and here and there on
television. Late at night before I went to sleep I would check the Internet on
my phone to see the latest details. My heart was broken by the tragedies in
Paris. So many people killed on a lovely Friday evening while sitting in
bistros and cafes or attending a concert or the theater. I thought of how
precarious life is, and how fragile. I thought of all of those who didn’t get
to go home to their loved ones that night. And the many still severely wounded
and hospitalized. The agony of it all, the loss, is still with me.
In
the meantime I was surrounded by love. Caleb and Austin picked me up from the
airport Thursday and as I got into the car I heard Austin’s gravely little
laugh and felt his warm hugs. Later that afternoon I went with Caleb to pick
Avery up from school and felt her fall into my arms, so innocent and sweet,
skipping happily to the car and chatting away that she got two jelly beans from
her teacher, awards for something I never quite figured out, but praised her
for anyway. That’s what granddads do.
On
Friday I laughed with Caleb and Kameron over drinks and dinner that night while
the kiddos slept snug in their beds at home with Carmen their nanny watching
over them, a loving nurturing woman with a charismatic smile. An immigrant from
Mexico. Someone who has endured the hard struggle of assimilation into another
country. None of us had any idea that faraway in France people were being
murdered in the streets.
On
Saturday we walked in the California sun and reveled in the goodness of life.
We celebrated Avery’s birthday with a band of screaming little girls oblivious
to terrorists and hate and how cruel the world can sometimes be. I met their
parents, good kind people, solid and decent and loving. There was cake and
munchies, games and laughter, easy conversations and the joy of celebration.
That
is how life should be for all of us. The closeness of family. The delight that
comes from being with friends. The gentleness of children. The symmetry of fall
with its changing colors and the arrival of chilly nights reminding us how
lovely the earth is.
And
yet, there remains the reality of terrorism, of seething hostility from people
in places near and far. Often without our slightest awareness abominable things
are happening to others. The awareness of these horrors eventually breaks into
the routine movements of our lives and we realize how dangerous the world can
be, how incomplete we all are in our humanity.
The
flood of people trying to escape the brutality of war and its atrocities fills
me with sadness. So many people displaced with nowhere to go. Can you imagine?
I cannot. How can we as a country say to no to refugees from Syria or other war
torn places where their daily lives know nothing about birthday celebrations or
warm family gatherings, where there is no longer the meaningful routine of
work, of traditions, or even the sacredness of safety?
I
want to live in a country of generosity, in a nation of people who are willing
to take in the hurting and the frightened from dreadful places plagued by war
and violence and devouring evil. I want America to act with grandeur, with
grace, to demonstrate over and over again compassion unparalleled across the
globe.
I
and most of you reading this are so fortunate. We live our comfortable lives
enveloped in love with people who care about us. We have plenty to eat. We
entertain ourselves easily and often. We have a cozy place we call home where
there is food and drink and a warm bed. So many today have so much less. Here,
and around the world.
I’m
rambling, I know. My thoughts today are with my kids, with the people of Paris,
with our president. I feel a bit unmoored, restless, aching for our world, and
our own country. Where is the simple kindness toward others that keeps us sane
and human? I long for that today. I want people everywhere to be safe today. I
want love to win.
©
2015 Timothy Moody
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