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Re: Disaster and aftermath

Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2012 8:01 am
by Sinkwriter72
That was beautiful, Steph. Thank you for sharing it with us.

Re: Disaster and aftermath

Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2012 9:44 am
by stargazer
Yes, thank you Steph! That's a gorgeous poem. :romance-smileyheart:

Going back a few months, I have family in Colorado in the same town in which that shooting tragedy happened. My cousin went to see that movie the same night/time, but she was lucky enough to pick a different theatre. My aunt who is a teacher, knew some family of the some of the victims and it was extremely sad. :( Hopefully, the man who did it, will get what's coming to him eventually.

Re: Disaster and aftermath

Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2013 2:50 pm
by Wendy
My prayers and thought are with the people of Boston and all who are affected by this horrible situation.

Re: Disaster and aftermath

Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2013 4:47 pm
by stargazer
Yes, another horrible tragedy with the death of a child as well as other deaths and injuries. I will never understand why some people do the things they do. TJ is from Boston, I hope any friends or family there are safe and I pray for everybody affected. :(

Re: Disaster and aftermath

Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2014 12:33 am
by ThyneAlone
Happily it's been a while since this thread got bumped to the top of people's minds again, but after the horrors of the last few days I would like to offer my deep sympathy for anyone affected by the Israeli/Palestine conflict and also for the friends and relatives on the flight that was shot down over Ukraine. Terrible, terrible stories and images. I find these events appallingly distressing and impossible to understand. I don't think a reminder here is out of place. :(

Re: Disaster and aftermath

Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2015 4:17 pm
by ThyneAlone
Sun Sep 6 9.27 am

Anyone who has been following the awful stories of the mass deaths of migrants trying to escape to Europe must see the humanitarian necessity of some kind of political action. Unfortunately the situation is more complicated politically than it is in simple human terms and this is slowing everything down. I don't know about a proper solution but I hope that the work of individuals is making some kind of difference.
:(

Re: Disaster and aftermath

Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2015 3:04 pm
by Sinkwriter72
I hope VĂ©ro and all our French citizen friends (and anyone who might be traveling there) are safe, amidst the terrible, terrible horrors unfolding in Paris right now. Please stay safe!! My thoughts are with you.

Re: Disaster and aftermath

Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2015 3:49 am
by ThyneAlone
You beat me to it, Sherry. So, so shocked and horrified at this absolutely abhorrent random slaughter. I'll be contacting my French friends today and praying for their safety and for that of their loved ones.
What kind of a world do we live in? Honestly... :sad:

Re: Disaster and aftermath

Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2015 11:25 am
by Sinkwriter72
re-posting my original response to your migrants comment, now that the new forum is set up:

You have such a great heart, Steph.
I hope for solutions that make a difference too.


And new comments from me in regard to Steph's current comments about Paris:

My heart is so heavy. It is unimaginable to me, the mindset that would be okay with doing any of this to fellow human beings. The question repeating in my head always seems to be "WHY??? HOW DOES THIS HELP YOUR SO-CALLED CAUSE? WHY CAN'T YOU CHOOSE A DIFFERENT, KINDER, LIFE-HONORING PATH?"

Last week I was watching an old Master Class on Oprah's channel, in which Maya Angelou was interviewed. And she said something that resonated well with me - perhaps it will resonate with you as well. I like the positivity of it, the encouragement.

The main message was this: if we have the capacity for negativity and destructiveness, we also have the capacity for positivity and constructiveness - to try and to dream and think positively. If we can channel that wonder and goodness, imagine what we can achieve.

(Though I admit this kind of thinking is very, very tough to do in light of such horrific violence. I understand what Maya is saying, because we should admit that there is dark and light in all of us, and true connection and removal of walls between people, cultures and nations will probably only come from the kind of honesty in which we all try harder to understand each other's point of view rather than insisting upon our own and closing our ears and eyes to anything else, but... on days like this, I struggle to imagine ever having the capacity to do something so violent. And I wonder if someone so radical as to think it's okay to hurt people in this manner would ever have the capacity to "hear" and connect with anyone positive. I just don't understand.)

For what it's worth, here's what Maya said:
(If you prefer to watch a video instead of reading her words, you can see it here)


"I'd like everybody to think of a statement by Terence. The statement is "I am a human being. Nothing human can be alien to me."

If you can internalize the least portion of that, you will never be able to say of an act, of a criminal act, "Oh, I couldn't do that," no matter how heinous the crime.

If a human being did it, you have to say, "I have in me all the components that are in her or in him. I intend to use my energies constructively as opposed to destructively."

If you can do that about the negative, just think what you can do about the positive!

If a human being dreams a great dream, dares to love somebody,
if a human being dares to be Martin King or Mahatma Gandhi or Mother Teresa or Malcolm X,
if a human being dares to be bigger than the condition into which she or he was born...
it means so can you.

And so you can try to stretch, stretch, stretch yourself...
That's one thing I'm learning."


I'm not a praying type of person (too much "former Catholic" baggage and frustration with organized religion *GRIN*), but I do believe in putting out energy in the universe and I do believe we feel positive and negative energy from people and environments, and we contribute to energy around us as well. Call it whatever you want (a thought, a prayer, a meditation), but I would like to send out my strength and most healing thoughts to anyone out there in the world needing it today, especially those in Paris.

Hugs to you all.

Re: Disaster and aftermath

Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2015 8:18 am
by Akarana
I just saw this thread and thought I'd add my five cents. Some of you know that I lived in Morocco and Egypt for a while. I have friends all over the world, also the Arab world.
For years now I have sent texts, emails and calls to these countries more often than I can count, because something exploded over there. Countless times I wanted to visit someone and was warned to stay away because the people living there said it was too dangerous.
I was at Khan el Khalili 3 days before a bomb exploded there. I was at the Djama al Fna two weeks before another bomb detonated. I was caught between demonstrating people and police. I ran into a building to hide from the stones which were thrown. I was always lucky, because I always got out unharmed.
Once the situation is over I always got to go home, to Germany, be safe and sound and start worrying about my friends out there.
I was worried two days before Paris because I had planned to spent Christmas and New Years Eve in Beirut with a good friend of mine. She told me not to come after the bombs exploded in Beirut because she can't guarantee for my safety anymore.
Two days later I was worried and angry again because Paris happened. And while I am used to the news of bombs exploding where my friends live, I am not used to them exploding basically in my neighborhood, It takes me 2 hours from here to Paris by TGV.
Again I wasn't there, I didn't lose someone close... I am not scared. I am more angry that something like this happens because I simply can not understand how people can do this to one another. I don't care if it's personal, religious or political reasons. You don't just shoot someone, kill someone.
I didn't cry after Beirut or Paris. I cried when I saw the English singing the French national anthem. I cried when I saw people supporting each other. Random acts of kindness make me cry not terror.
After Paris I talked to many people over here and some didn't even know that so many bombs exploded for so many years because the media coverage is minimal over here.
For that reason I started posting on Facebook the flag of the country for each bomb that explodes and each person that gets killed by terrorists. I can't post the Syrian flag or the Iraqi flag each time, because then I wouldn't be doing anything else anymore. However since Paris I posted Mali for the dead in the hotel. And yesterday I posted two times: Egypt (20 dead in a hotel) and Tunisia (14 killed in a bus). I posted after I knew that everyone I know there is ok. Again I was lucky.

What I want to say with all of these words: Don't pray for one country, although each one deserves it. Pray for all of us. No one knows where these terrorists will strike next. Who knows, one day I might not be as lucky. But until then I will not let them win. I will continue to help the refugees over here. And I will continue being as kind as I can be. Because otherwise, in my opinion, they win.

Re: Disaster and aftermath

Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2015 1:58 pm
by ThyneAlone
:text-goodpost:

I don't think I have ever agreed with something so much.
Thanks, Jessi.

Re: Disaster and aftermath

Posted: Thu Nov 26, 2015 6:10 am
by Akarana
ThyneAlone wrote::text-goodpost:

I don't think I have ever agreed with something so much.
Thanks, Jessi.

You're welcome ;)

Re: Disaster and aftermath

Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2016 8:00 am
by Sinkwriter72
I'd say what's happening in Brussels is unimaginable, but after our previous conversations in this thread, it's very unfortunately not surprising. I feel really numb. :sad:

My fervent hope is that everyone out there be as safe as possible. May strength, comfort and love always be with you, even in the darkest of times.

Re: Disaster and aftermath

Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2016 10:12 am
by ThyneAlone
To all our US friends - I am dumbfounded and weeping at the news from Orlando. I don't know how to react to this terrible, horrible tragedy. I can't think of any way we can stop these dreadful things happening. Yes, there is the gun argument, but people who think in that twisted manner will always find a way to carry out their despicable crimes. My thoughts and prayers are with everyone there.

Re: Disaster and aftermath

Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2016 11:52 am
by Sinkwriter72
Thank you, Steph. <3

I just find myself distracted and struggling emotionally today.

(And please know that what I'm writing here is not specifically directed to you or your kind, well-meaning words of comfort. My questions and struggle are with religion and faith as a whole.)

I find myself discussing religion with some of my friends online today, and asking this: if God really exists, what kind of God is he? The one who let these things happen? Or perhaps, as some say, it is all part of a "plan"? What the hell kind of plan is that, to let innocent people be slaughtered (in a club or a school or anywhere), or children to be abused, or anyone to be raped or murdered or harmed in any way? What kind of God is cool with a plan that includes any of that? And if he is not cool with such things, but is all-seeing and all-powerful and it's all part of a "divine plan," why would he let such horrific things happen? That's who I should pray to? No. I struggle more and more with the idea of "prayer." When good things happen, people say that "God is good," or "God must have heard my prayers," or "God was looking out for me today." They thank him for everything from a beautiful sunrise to a lucky parking space to narrowly missing being in a car accident. But what of those who have been hurt so terribly? Does that mean God was not looking out for them? Were they insufficient in some way that they did not deserve God's care and protection? It seems so arbitrary.

I just think there is so much ugliness tied to organized religion that the very thought of it frustrates and sometimes even sickens me. When someone says "I'll pray" it immediately makes me feel stressed out, anxious and/or angry. Those words feel and sound so hollow to me these days. I've tried not to feel angry, but I do. It stirs up in me almost anytime someone says the word "pray." I know rationally that in most cases they mean well, and wish to send their most loving thoughts someone's way. Rationally I understand that. I do. But when I see so many so-called religious people or people of faith speak of "prayer" with one breath and speak viciousness lacking in compassion or care in the next breath, and follow with actions of the same, the hypocrisy has made that word into a trigger for me.

When unquestionably horrific things like this happen, when violence occurs either because of extremism or because someone's "God" says one group of people is somehow less than another group of people and therefore needs to die, it makes me wish we could scrap all organized religion and start community with a clean slate. No one would be fighting over whose faith is "right," no one would hurt one another over their religious beliefs, no one would have cause to use it in that way. I don't know... this is one of the many reasons why I no longer go to church. The "faith" I had as a child, that I was taught to have, does not stand up against all that I see happening in the world. It doesn't make sense to me anymore. I can't "go along" with it the way I did when I was a kid. Enough has happened that it just doesn't feel right.

Anyway... I join you in sending love and support and comfort to Orlando. I just wish there was something else I could do. It doesn't feel like enough.

Re: Disaster and aftermath

Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2016 9:19 pm
by stargazer
Unfortunately, I was only 6 miles away from this horrible tragedy when it happened and there were people who were at the dance event I was attending who either knew some of the victims or their families. It's so sad to see people I know affected in such a horrible way by one person's hate and rage, who were so happy and dancing only hours before. In the dance community that I have recently became a part of, there is a large number of gay/lesbian dancers and I hope that having our event kept some them from going out that night and possibly prevented them from losing their lives. It's horrible that things like this happen and I'm extremely sad it hit so close to home this time. :(

Re: Disaster and aftermath

Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2016 10:40 pm
by ThyneAlone
Sinkwriter72 wrote:

(And please know that what I'm writing here is not specifically directed to you or your kind, well-meaning words of comfort. My questions and struggle are with religion and faith as a whole.)
Hey, no offence taken and I completely understand everything you are feeling as it is something my whole family feels every time something like this happens. None of my boys follow organised religion any more they think exactly as you do. I keep going, but constantly question, so maybe I shouldn't use the word 'prayers' in quite that way, when I don't feel I am talking to a God exactly but just expressing despair at fellow human suffering and hoping against hope that this won't happen again.

The word does mean something more than that to some of the people at whom I am aiming it, so I keep using it even when I'm unsure that I am really doing it.

Re: Disaster and aftermath

Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2016 6:01 pm
by Sinkwriter72
Another terrible incident in France today... :sad: There are no words. I just have no words anymore.

Please, all our dear French friends and TJ Fans, let us know that you're safe.

<3

Re: Disaster and aftermath

Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2016 1:42 am
by ThyneAlone
I too cannot speak this time, but I was in tears this morning. France has been so wounded in recent months. I echo Sherry - please be all right, dear friends - and offer heartfelt condolences to everyone who has suffered here, losing relatives, friends, children. Oh it doesn't bear thinking about.

Re: Disaster and aftermath

Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2016 9:59 am
by Sinkwriter72
*hugs Steph and anyone else who needs it*

:romance-grouphug: