In the Wake of Tragedy, Do You Believe?

We all watched and listened in horror last Friday as the events of the most tragic massacre unfolded in quiet, peaceful Newtown, Ct. One of my friends posted to her Facebook wall that it was ,"proof again there is no 'God' " That post received some flack, some support and a lot of traffic.

After hiding out for week, trying to deal with the steady media stream of a parents worst nightmare, I finally formed a response to her post.

It went like this", I believe as ********** does. God is a concept to appease the masses. The good works we do, the mystery of life, the summer wind. Those are all part of this collective ideal of God. 

Did he send his only son to Earth? Did he flood the planet or create us all, I have no idea. But when the man called Jesus said that God was in everything and everyone, when he told us God would be known by many different names, I believed him. 
Was God there in CT that day? Yes, in the voices of the teachers, on the lips of the worried family and friends. In the eyes of the first responders who witnessed the unbearable. 
I don't know if God is laughing but I know there are some happy, joyous spirits out there in the great beyond who will greet us when we get called home to the Beginning."

I was raised in an Irish Catholic family with clergy for Great Aunts and Uncles. Some of the older generation had strong views, we were all sent to Catholic school. It was part of who we were. In University, I took a World Religion course and formed my own ideas and belief system.

That system came in handy when I heard the news, heard about those poor babies, their teachers who loved them and their families who must carry on. With a shattered heart, I spent any time I could spare to decide how I felt. Did I still believe in a higher power. Yes. Was my soul run over by a truck and dragged 300feet on broken glass? Yes.

Then my amazing cousin posted a quote that she clung to in dealing with the four year anniversary of her mothers passing. It has nothing to do with God and yet, I think this fits perfectly for those ripped from the bosom of the families.

"...In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night...You - only you - will have stars that can laugh." -- The Little Prince"

Thanks my dear cousin for easing my burden and allowing me to be the mother I need to be to my lovely, yet challenging children.

 I will go outside one evening and listen for the laughter, will you?