It's evening and I'm sitting at a restaurant after a long day, scrolling through my Twitter feed trying to catch up on the news of everyone's day. I'm mindlessly scrolling and liking a witty tweet here and there when I come across a tweet in particular that strikes a cord. It says "Praying for France" with a picture supporting Nice, France. Instantly, I get on my news app and start scrolling to find out what has happened now in the world.
Eighty people killed after a truck plows through a Bastille Day crowd. The driver first shot a gun into the crowd before driving along the Promenade des Anglais, a main street in Nice. People had gathered to watch fireworks and were just heading back from the beach after the fireworks got over. Police shot and killed the driver and then found firearms, explosives and grenades in the truck. Bastille Day is a day when France celebrates its post-French Revolution republic so the terror attack happening then was especially poignant.
America has been the subject of many shootings lately. Texas, Minnesota, and several other places have been targeted. Now France is in the midst of chaos and turmoil.
Our world is becoming a place where we can't safely attend parades, bars and clubs, or even school. We can't let our children walk down the street to a friend's house or walk across campus at night without fear. Even the sideways glance of a stranger that lasts for one second too long makes you feel ill at ease.
It's 2016 and I am more afraid than ever for not only our nation, but for the well being of our world as a whole. My hope for the future dwindles with every news release of another horrific event that occurs.
I am so saddened. My heart is heavy with the current events going on around us. We can no longer scroll through our Twitter feeds, Facebook timelines or news apps without reading about a terror attack, racism, someone's thoughts on police brutality, or a shooting. I ask with great curiosity and grief, what is wrong with our world? What has happened to the people who were once so compassionate and caring? What once used to be a friendly wave to a stranger is now replaced with a downwards glance in the other direction and a hurried pace past them. What once used to be neighborhoods full of houses with open windows in the summer and block parties on the weekends are now replaced with locked doors and drawn curtains. Tragedy has stripped the trust and love from human beings across the world, replacing these characteristics with hate, anger and a bitter coldness.
I hold onto the remaining hope that I have for our future. A hope for compassion towards others once again. A hope for love and trust... and a hope that that trust isn't broken. I hope for streets where one day children of my own can safely walk about. I hope that very soon we can rid this angry world of all the hatred because for the love of God, we can't take much more.
