On Terror, Grief, and Love
Updated: Jan 23
Dear children,
Last night I told you that there’s a darkness in this world. Sometimes people can’t get past the pain, and the anger, and the wanting to be right. Sometimes people hurt each other. Yesterday a lot of people were hurt and killed.
Today people are grieving. Grief if what happens when you lose something or someone that you love. Grief can make you feel sad and angry and empty all at the same time. Grief can make you want to hold on tightly to the people you love and the things that you know. Grief can make you want hurt whoever hurt you. Grief can make you feel anything. You don’t get to choose how you feel when you’re grieving.
Grief is like a seed, and yesterday that seed was planted in the hearts of people all over the world. In most of us, that seed of grief will stay in our hearts for the rest of our lives as a reminder of what we lost.
In some of us, that seed of grief will grow and grow. We’ll feel so sad and angry that we’ll start planting seeds of sadness and anger and grief in other people, just like the people yesterday planted those seeds in all of us.
You see, yesterday was not the first time that something like this happened. And yesterday was not the last time, either.
I know it can be scary to live in a world like this, where people hurt each other again and again. I wish that I could keep you safe from it all.
The only protection I can offer you is my love. It won’t stop a knife or a bomb or a bullet, but there is no weapon on earth that could ever take it away from you. I planted it in your heart like a seed, and every day I help it grow with kisses and hugs and wiped away tears. I show you what it means when I say, “I’m sorry,” and, “I forgive you.” I help you practice it when I ask you to share and be respectful. I remind you that it’s there when I say, “I love you.”
Every day, you have the choice to spread seeds of that love to the people around you. When you forgive someone who is unkind to you, or reach out to someone who doesn’t have a friend, you’re planting seeds of love. When you are kind to people and show them respect, you’re helping those seeds grow. And the more love we all have in our hearts, the less room there is for sadness and anger and emptiness—the more love we all have in our hearts, the less we hurt each other.
This is your most important job. It won’t fix everything. Terrible things will still happen. But it’s your small piece of the puzzle of how to make our world a better place.
Today, we will grieve with those who grieve, and we will honor them by planting seeds of love.
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