18 days into 2011, and already it's been an exhausting year...
The bombing at the Church if the Saints in Alexandria, Egypt on New Year's Eve really put a bad taste in my mouth the morning of New Year's Day. The random mass death of birds and fish all over didn't help the sense of despair this year brought. Shortly thereafter, it was followed by the train shooting. Then the shooting in Arizona left me perplexed, but the memorial speech left me in hopeful tears that through it all, we will come together to offset this spell of darkness with the light of our kind actions towards one another.
The revolt of the Tunisian people gave hope to other oppressed Arab nations that they too will be heard, if they speak up loud enough and in unison. But even that was misinterpreted, and so far 5 copycats in Egypt set themselves on fire, only bringing more sorrow and misery to their families and situation. That obviously didn't help.
Hoping to find a glimmer of light, I turn inward to more simpler matters, family, work and the day to day. Yet the darkness of the ugly 18 days has spread there too. Work is once again at a peak time of stress, issues arising were none were for months. Family is getting bad health news, a wedding canceled, a friend's parent has passed, and another friend is lying in the hospital with bleeding to the brain. And to top it all off, I get food poisoning! Enough is enough!
This may seem like a venting type of blog entry, and to some degree it is. Maybe it's my hungry, yet violent stomach that's doing the talking. Maybe it's the last series of gray weather days. But maybe the collective of the recent events will pull us all together to create a warm space for one another, love one another and be kind to one another just a tiny bit more than usual. Your friend, coworker, neighbor or driver in the car next to you probably needs it.
Make it a great day, and pray for one another. Let's hope I have a brighter 18 days to report on very soon.
