Recently, our country has been shaken by the mass shooting in Orlando, Florida. Around 50 were killed, and around 50 more were injured in the shooting at The Pulse, a gay club in which people could feel free to be themselves. After the shooting, many people, especially those of the LGBTQ+ community, were scared to express themselves, fearing another lash out that could cost them their lives. People are still scared, but there are also those who are celebrating their identities, proving that no one can keep us down.

After the attacks in Paris, France a few months ago, a video of an interview with a father and his child was circulating the internet. During the interview, the young child expresses that he is afraid of the "bad guys," and that his family would needed to move houses. His father assures him that they will not be moving, because France is their home.

"But there's bad guys, daddy," the child says.

"Yes, but there's bad guys everywhere," the father explains.

His son tells him that the bad guys have guns and will shoot them because they are mean. "It's okay," his father tells him gently, "They might have guns, but we have flowers."

His father explains that the flowers that everyone puts around are to protect them. The son them smiles, and when the reporter asks him if he feels better, he says yes.

This father's wisdom applies not only to the attacks in Paris, but to attacks everywhere, including the shooting in Florida. When people use flowers, candles, and any other objects to remember and honor those who are lost, they are showing the "bad guys" that they are not afraid and will continue to fight.

The flowers might not bring back those whom we have lost, but they create something new: a fighting spirit. The flowers say, "We will fight ugliness with beauty, loss with new life, and violence with growth."

Fighting hatred with hatred is not the way to go. Instead, we will fight hatred with compassion, and fire with flowers.