Article by Melissa Ladd

My thoughts, after Friday the 13th November 2015

2015 in Paris, has been a year with a giant parentheses of violence on both ends. January saw the Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Cacher attacks, and now this November as we near the end of the year and the holiday season, the city of Paris is reliving the horror, and worse this time. At cafés and street corners in the 10th and 11th districts, at the Bataclan concert hall and the Stade de France. The death toll is well over a hundred souls, innocent souls, Parisians out enjoying life and the liberté that this beautiful country offers. Who would have thought that sitting at a café terrace in Paris, France would mean risking your very life… Or going to see a rock concert… or a friendly sports match…

My heart, my broken and saddened heart goes out to all those victims, their friends and families that are devastated at the horrible loss they are now living with. The gaping hole that these murderous terrorist attacks leave in their families and in the minds of us all. This hole that is the uncertainty we now live with.

We must not forget and fall overly complacent to daily life as we have over the past year since the January 11th attacks. We must remember lest we fall in to a comfortable sense of security, all while Evil is still planning its next attack. More will surely be planned. Hopefully we will be on watch and be able to prevent them before they take any more innocent lives. Not just in Paris, but all over the world. We do not have to be fearful, we have to be prepared. But, in all honesty, these terrorists are damn scary. And we are right to be afraid of the hell and horror they bring.

But we must also not forget to love.

Remember to spread love, not fear. Everyone. The more love we all share, the more love there is in the world. The more hate we express, the more hate there is in the world. Chose wisely what you share. Be part of the love, love is what we all can do to help save this world from the doom the terrorists would like to bring down.

They cannot have their apocalypse if we all open our hearts to one another. They cannot poison a world full of love. And hope.

Let’s fill that gaping hole with as much as we can. Overflow the void with love, love, love, amour, amour, amour. Rid the world of this evil, turn to your neighbor and be nice. Isn’t that the true message of all these religions that are all up in arms anyway? BE NICE. BE GOOD. Blindingly simple n’est-ce pas? Light kills the darkness, every time. Be light. Be nice. Be good.

But being good, being nice and being light doesn’t mean to be complacent, nor to back down when evil raises it’s ugly head. We must shine so bright that evil has no space to exist. The terrorists that devastated France this weekend come from evil, an evil ideology, a frightening dogmatic fanatic horrible bone chilling organization that must be squelched and squashed and eradicated. I honestly do not believe that offering those individuals kindness would turn them to the light now; they are so warped and brain washed that they will not come back from the dark path they have chosen. But if we all offer kindness towards one another, they cannot gain any more power. And with all the goodness shining, that those of us who chose the light can offer to the world, then, those people of evil could become insignificant and forgotten. If we all work together to make the light brighter than the darkness is dark, the darkness will have no option but to vanish. This is my call to arms, and our weapons are love and light.

That is how we remember, that is how we fill the void, that is how we kill the evil and that is how we honor the victims.

Peace be with you all. Be strong, stay safe and be the light.

These are my thoughts the days following the horrible events in Paris on Friday the 13th of November 2015. Share yours in the comments below.