After the terror comes peace. The attack stuns, injures,
maims and kills. It is awful. The mind reels during the attack, not knowing the
what or why of anything. The world is turned upside down. And then peace! Silence.
Dead silence. A stirring is barely heard. Someone is moving. A shoe scrapes
sideways on the pavement. A few dry leaves flutter in the gutter. Then a
moan, whimper and sob. Faintly in the far distance a wailing siren is barely
heard; it grows louder. Then shouts are heard as bystanders return to the scene they
hurriedly left moments before. They become a crowd, now on hands and knees
peering close to the injured wondering how to assist them.
The crowd grows and agitated voices multiply until the area
sounds like a busy emergency room at a hospital. In a real way it has become
that. emergency medical personnel are now on the scene. So too the police and
public servants we take so for granted. Humming now the scene of the attack is
coming to life to save the injured and cover the dead.
A light breeze fans the faces of the onlookers and the
wounded alike. Sweat, tears and blood dry with the breeze. And now murmurs of
comfort are heard as order is restored and ambulances remove patients to an
uncertain recovery.
An hour later there is peace in this street, on this block.
The damage has been done and now the assessment. Yes, this is peace of a sort.
Later hours mull over the event. Reason is contemplated. Why
is asked and answers questioned. Sense is brought to light but not full
understanding. An awful thing has happened. Fresh concerns are now
our focus. Injured are ministered, wrapped and sedated. They are resting and
coping with their own thoughts. The dead are quiet; it is their families who
are now the injured ones and full of questions. And sorrow. And loss.
As hours go by public discussion covers the event. Lessons
are posed but not sure of their learning. Time will help with that. Meanwhile
the authorities follow their routines and seek culprits and collaborators. They
catch a few; arrest them; seek the rest. Some are snared and shot dead in a
flurry of defensive action. Their bodies are removed for further study.
And then ISIS owns up to
the event, boasting its responsibility.
Well that is settled but not the why. History demands
questions and answers be posed and eventually settled. Not tonight or tomorrow
but one day this will be.
Meantime we learn to live with the unknowing and make a sort
of peace with it until we know more. One thing rises from this misty unknown –
for the moment peace is with us.
Later, much later, months and years later, we piece together
the thoughts that help us understand the inhumanity of mankind toward itself. A
political statement of hate through action. It does not satisfy the need for
justice, but it oddly brings a little bit of peace.
We understand the minds of some cannot cope with loss of
their own influence. They act in hate to express this. And ever will this be
so?
For the rest of humanity we seek to learn the why so we can
prevent future violence. We will succeed in greater part; but a small part will
remain and violence will erupt. It is like breathing in and breathing out. Life
goes on in spite of it all. But peace returns as routine does. The awful
informs how good life is.
A twisted way to value the good. But the peace is
still ours to have and to hold while those who hate wallow in their horror.
Peace be to all victims. And yes, we are all victims of the
hate. But most of us survive to revel in the peace.
August 22, 2017
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