In the wake of the Paris Attacks, there has been so much terror and fear in everything that people are doing and saying. This is understandable. The world has just been rocked in a way, and we are waiting in the aftermath to figure out how to proceed. Earlier this week, a man who lost his wife in the attack on Le Bataclan, Antoine Leiris, wrote a post on Facebook. He talked at length about how even though his grief is great, he will not hate the men who took his wife from him. If he hates them, he said, that means he is giving them what they want. Leiris's post was turned into a video that has been circulating.
"I will not give you the gift of hating you."
These are the times that try men's souls, as Thomas Paine once said. And it cannot be more true. This world that we live in is trying us every day. It is trying to get us to live in hatred of what is around us. But I challenge you to not give in to that hatred. I'm not saying forget what has happened, but to look forward with understanding.
Leiris talks about how he won't look at his fellow citizens with mistrust. And I think that is so important. We must look at what is happening in the world today with compassion. The Syrian refugee crisis is horrifying. People who are trying to find a place to rest their heads are being turned away because we are falling into the trap of fear that Daesh wants us to.
Compassion is humanity's strongest emotion. We are social creatures, and with that comes empathy. We can make conjectures about what could happen in the future. When we see horrible events happening in other parts of the world, fatalistic tendencies arise and we can't help but imagine if that event happened to us, or to the people we love and care about. But why should only the people we love and care about have our concern? Why can't we show concern for all our fellow humans.
Leiris says that the men who killed his wife and hundreds of others are dead souls. And I can't help but agree. The people who attacked Paris and caused such chaos and death are not humans worth extending compassion to. But the Syrian refugees? Any person who has been uprooted or affected by this tragedy that is happening in the world right now? My compassion can't extend far enough. These people deserve our help and our empathy. What we can only imagine in horror happening to those we care about is their reality. How can you not extend the olive branch to help someone who is going through hell?
This holiday season, show compassion towards your fellow human. In this time of thanksgiving, let those around you know that you love and care about them, and extend that love to those who need it most in these times of terror. Because we as Americans have seen terror. We know its effects. And we have a chance to change the aftermath.
