A Bastille Day Reflection

Here is a meditation I wrote in response to the sad day in Nice and beyond.  - Doug

July 14th, 2016

Happy Bastille Day.  I hope it is a beautiful summer day there. 
Viva La France!

(Words I typed in a quick note to an old friend last night.)

But now I sit and compose an evening note
because I thought of you all day. And you ought to know it. 

Been following the news.  I am so sorry.  
It feels like there is so much madness in the world.

Sitting here, diminished.
Weakened, weighed-down.
In a distant land. 
Yet I am with you. We are with you.
In Nice. 
In Paris.
In Brussels and Bagdad.
In Turkey and Orlando.

Whoever said what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger
Forgot to mention that you may feel beat down and hopeless for a little while in between. 

I spent the day thinking a lot about empathy. And about desperation and anger.  Hatred, too.  I try to understand it, but it does not lift the weight.  

Can kindness calm the madness?

Well I suppose I am just writing to let you know
that I thought of you all day. And you ought to know it.

Viva L'espoir!
Viva La France!