​More Light is Coming

     There’s a waxing moon over Paris tonight. Earlier this evening Linda and I watched a segment from 60 Minutes that reported on shootings just two nights ago. The last scene of the report was a shot of Notre Dame sounding chimes for those who were killed…and above Notre Dame was the shot of the waxing moon.
 
     Friday night’s shooting stirred up so much for me and I imagine for many of us. As we watched there were heart-echoes of a Tuesday morning in September fourteen years ago; there were echoes of a scene from Boston where one minute runners were crossing the marathon’s finish line and the next, everyone was running for cover.
 
        So many of us live our lives so far from violence. We get up each morning worrying about what to wear for work or getting our kids to school on time. So many of us are so privileged in our way of living our lives.
 
        It’s easy to be fearful in these hours and days following Friday night’s shootings. It’s easy to think the worst of what could be next for anybody, for everybody. It’s so easy to give-in to the shutting down of mind and spirit.
 
        I heard that of the many miracles of Friday night, there was one small, but magnificent one. France and Germany were playing one another in football (soccer). When the game was stopped because of the sounds of explosions, it would have been easy for chaos to break out, for neighbor to turn against neighbor. I heard that when the German fans were exiting the stadium, many of them spontaneously burst into the singing of the French national anthem.
 
       The moon is waxing now. More light is coming. This is the time each month when we are reminded that holding on matters. During these nights we can live into knowing that soon and very soon we will be able to see, even in the dark. This is the time when we find the strength and the courage to sing our neighbor’s song. Even in what feels like whistling in the dark…  how can I, how can we keep from singing?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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