Monday, November 16, 2015

To Paris, With Love

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I spent the majority of my Friday in continuing education real estate class, so I was fairly oblivious to the horrific attacks happening across the ocean. It was only when I hopped on social media that afternoon that I realized what had taken place - multiple attacks had left more than one hundred dead and countless injured in a beautiful city. My heart was instantly broken - this was one more sign of what our world has become. I kept up with various news outlets that evening, trying to wrap my mind around what had taken place.

The next morning, I woke up to see that Facebook had implemented a new feature that allowed you to change your profile photo to the colors of the French flag in support of the terrorist attacks. I along with many of my fellow Facebook friends made that change. Sure, a quick swipe on my iPhone doesn't mean I've made a difference, but it was heartwarming to see people near and far banding together to support a city left broken and terrified thanks to ISIS. After all, Paris stood up for the beautiful United States of America when our country was attacked, so why not do the same?

Now, I shouldn't have been surprised about this next little bit, but I was. In disbelief, I read multiple posts that reprimanded those who were sharing articles, voicing their opinions, and changing their profile photos. Yes, there have been other attacks from ISIS that have left countries distraught, and those countries should by all means be supported as well. But the support of Paris does not mean that we love any of those countries any less.

We read what is shared - and the Paris attacks have been shared and televised over and over again. You see, people travel across the world to see the City of Light. I think many never believed it would be attacked like it has and it has taken a terrorist attack that seems "a little closer to home" to make a broader impact and to get people talking. But that is what we need -- people standing up together against terrorists. And in my humble opinion, the support of Paris does not represent just one city. It represents the support of every single human being who has ever been affected by the terror that is ISIS. It represents people's love for others. It represents heartbreak over what is happening in this world. 

In this day and age, we use every world event as a chance to complain and to compare. But death is death. Heartbreak is heartbreak. So today, instead of complaining, let us pray. Share the articles, educate those about world events, and let us all learn to gether. And to Paris, to Beirut, to Lebanon, to Kuwait, to Tunisia, to every country that has ever felt the throes of terror - this is for you, with love. 
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