It's the first of seven consecutive "collective praying events" set up by a random stranger
imploring the world to pray for peace, humanity, and Paris. On Friday, Paris
was ravaged by seven terrorist acts, planned to be carried out simultaneously,
by ISIS, the Islamic State, the latest in the world's bullies who seek to
instill fear and loathing around the world. This Google search shows today's latest: Paris Attacks.
I've decided to spend my reflection
time blogging about how I feel about the world. It's a snippet in time, a momentary but honest statement.
I'm continually disheartened by the lack of humanity among
humanity. We will be our own demise. We will bring about the end of our own species, just as we've brought about the end of countless others. It
seems that there are daily reminders of the growing hatred among us. The
growing fear among us. The growing intolerance among us.
I'm continually
embarrassed to associate myself with humanity. Why can't I be like a dragonfly?
Peacefully flying through my world, dipping and diving with the current,
landing when I'm tired, lifting when I'm ready, living, unencumbered, without
guile, without weight, without feeling. Why am I so bothered by dead deer,
and ostracized children, and abused animals, and poached lions? Why am I so weighed down
with the starving children in Africa, and the tsunami victims in Asia, and the
futility of preparing for 'the big one', and people running stop signs, and the dismembered suicide bombers
who are acting in a way that they believe to be right. Where is the peace?
Where is the humanity? Where are the prayers? Is everyone just doing what they believe to be right? Is that the answer? To let them?
Maybe, to give clarity to the world's choices, I need to find
clarity in my own. Maybe I need to take time to find out how I can be a
better person, how I can be more humane, how I can find my own peace. I
think that if I did that, and you did that, and they did that, only then might
the world see calm, and love, and brotherhood. That's what I believe.
That's my prayer.