Laughed to death...I am Charlie

My heart bleeds for the victims of that barbaric and profoundly pathetic act, my heart bleeds for their families, their friends, my heart bleeds for freedom of speech, humour, democracy, the right to be different… my heart bleeds for mankind…

However, a magnificent ray of light has illuminated the darkness: the spontaneous gathering of thousand of people the world over in an act of solidarity and reverence. A powerful message of love and unity that we must absolutely maintain once the mourning is over. Let’s remain dignified in spite of our indignation, and let’s remain in loving kindness rather than being tempted by hatred: light always triumphs over darkness!

But as for the terrorists, can we have any compassion for THEM???

Yes we can. It is essential if we want to eradicate barbarism, as anger and hatred only feed it and reinforce it. Having compassion is understanding that these beings are totally dysfunctional and completely lost to have come to believe that what they are doing is God’s will. “Forgive them my Lord, as they know not what they do” said Jesus. Indeed.

Nevertheless, having compassion certainly does not mean condoning or accepting. You can have compassion and condemn, and it is imperative to put these people out of harm’s way, by all means at our disposal. But, to do it without hatred and revenge: what is the point of hating a gangrenous limb ?

Looking at the suggestions I made in my last newsletter on how to co-create a better world, I found it interesting to see how these terrorists co-create a world of darkness:

Be as you want the world to be: they are hatred and anger, and this is what they reap, this is what they co-create – and beware, if we respond to them in the same way, we shall be co-creating in unison with them!

Stop wanting to be right. They are the perfect illustration of the extremes man can reach when he believes he is right…

Never take yourself seriously! Alas, another perfect example of the extremes man can reach when he takes himself seriously, to the point of killing humour.

Talking of humour, I am both deeply touched and delighted by the abundance of drawings and messages where humour and love prevail: yes, we can laugh at anything!