On My Knees: Making Sense of France and Other World Tragedies

Late Thursday afternoon, July 14^th, the calls came and then the texts. “Are Xavier and Christophe back yet?” I hadn’t yet heard about the events in Nice and my son and ex-husband were in the South of France for a 17-day family vacation. Luckily, my 12-year-old son had texted me “Goodnight” just minutes before the first call came in.
          I wasn’t shaken up before I actually knew the details of what had happened even after that first call. I had been asking Archangel Michael to protect my son, his dad and his dad’s girlfriend throughout their journey.
          When I woke up the next day, I realized the magnitude of the tragedy when I turned on NPR in the morning and later at the gym when I saw a CNN report. Because I’m sensitive to news stories, I generally try to stay away from watching TV news, but one headline struck me hard as I was doing cardio on an elliptical machine, “10 Children Killed in Nice Attack”. Tears instantly came to my eyes as I really realized that on the same night, my child was watching the fireworks for Bastille Day in the neighboring town, Cannes, France.
          Then, all the events of the past few weeks in various news stories around the globe came rushing back to me as I was reminded of the terror and violence surrounding so many different scenarios. And then it came to me that the solution to these terrible events does not lay in human efforts but in spiritual ones.
          I was instantly drawn to say prayers for the victims of the attacks in Nice and for their families. I was also compelled to pray for the world and our battle against evil.
          Being that this is a blog about life purpose, you may wonder what a current event posting is doing here. The miraculous thing about life purpose is that it always involves service to others. Life purpose is never about me and mine but always about, “How can I help?” And “How can I serve?”
          One of my first gurus, Dr. Wayne Dyer used to say, “When you hear it once, it ceases to be news.”
          We can go over the events of Nice, France, Orlando, Florida, Texas, Paris, and any other place where terror has struck but going over these events and staying rooted in fear never solved anything. What we must realize is that this is a battle of spirit and not a battle of flesh. Flesh will always be weak and covered with ego will always want to fight, get even, seek revenge, and create more violence, war and turmoil. Spirit seeks peace, looks for higher solutions, is compassionate, loving, kind and strives for wholeness rather than separateness.
          On my knees in prayer is the only way I can help the violence of the world. Praying for humility, the willingness to forgive, the ability to be compassionate, kind, understanding and to only show love is the only way I can make sense of how to heal this broken world. Regardless of your religious beliefs, it’s easy to see Jesus, the Prince of Peace as an example to follow when trying to make sense of insane acts by humans.
          In our life purpose and through everything, God has a plan to draw us back to Him. But we have to be open and willing to receive the messages. In conclusion, I’ll mention that I lived in France for many years, my kids and I all hold French passports and have dual citizenship. As many European countries have, France has also lost faith in God for intellectualism. Churches and cathedrals are virtually empty on a Sunday morning. After the tragedy in Nice, I heard a news report about churches staying open for memorials and vigils and that flocks of people crowded to these churches in memory of the victims of the Nice attack. This is the second attack in France in a short duration. I’m not suggesting that God caused tragedy. It’s never God but our own free will choices that cause human tragedy. But it’s most often through tragedy that we find God.
 The same goes for your life purpose. Life purpose is not often revealed in great times. Most of the time, life purpose is revealed through hardship, tragedy, desperation, sadness and loneliness. It happens when we are so broken that we fall to our knees and awaken our relationship with God once again. But you don’t have to wait for those moments to occur. You can humble yourself now and ask, “How can I help?” And “How can I serve?” You can ask, “How can I use my God-given talents to make this world a better place?” And “What can I do to help bring peace to this world?” Ask and it will be revealed to you so you can be a beacon of light that lifts the energy of this world from darkness.
 Love,Michelle