The worst thing about terror attacks, is the hate and anger that fills my heart. At least for me. Still, it pales in comparison to the pain and grief filling the hearts of all the victims. Monday was a long night. We had just settled in for the night when our phones started ringing off the hook. House phone. Cell phone. Instant Messenger. The works. It is never good news when that happens late at night, instantly our hearts start racing and we worry about our loved ones.
It wasn’t our loved ones. It was another terror strike, this time in our beloved Berlin. My 2nd favorite city (Amsterdam will always be first), and home to my dear friend Min (Carin Grobe Design). A full-size freight truck had plowed through the Berlin Christmas Market. Thankfully Min, and all her loved ones, is fine. Sadly, twelve people lost their lives. Forty-eight more are injured. Countless are grieving.
Those first hours, when not much is known, when the death & destruction fills my screens, when we check in, and check on, with loved ones, are filled with anger. My heart fills with hate at the evil that does this. At the evil that allows this. I can find no peace. No reason. I see only red.
Today my heart still breaks for all those affected. Not just those in Berlin, but at the Coptic Christian cathedral in Cairo, Nice, Brussels, and many more around the world. It is too numerous to list. I don’t know if it is because I am older, and more aware, or because the world has always been filled with anger, hate, fighting. It seems people have yet to find a way to cohabit this planet peacefully. This is not new.
I have no forgiveness in my heart for the senseless killings. Destruction. Evil. But I will not let my heart continue to be filled with hate or anger. I am focusing on the good. I am focusing on Christmas. I am praying for the end of evil. I am praying for the healing of those injured. I am praying for those in mourning.
Today I remember my first visit to Berlin. My amazement at what a beautiful city it is. I expected dirt. Skyscrapers. Grey. Instead I found wide streets, lined with beautiful trees. Gorgeous old buildings, commingled with new. I found a city still learning to live as one, East and West together but separate. I found memorials to the horrors of WWII, and memorials to millions of Jews murdered during the holocaust. I found art. I found beauty. To my surprise, there is still a piece of the infamous Berlin Wall standing. A tangible reminder of the division once in Germany.
Berlin is beautiful. Her people are beautiful. My heart is with Berlin. My prayers are with her.
De Gedächtniskirche or Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin
Christian, Soren & Dane, Cole, me & Tess and Dave in front of the Berlin Wall, 2010
Trying to recreate a Sandsation sculpture with Cole, Dane, Tess & Su in Berlin
Christian & Dane in front of the remaining Berlin Wall
Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin. Not for standing on, as Tess is pointing out.
Cole, Soren & Dane, Christian, Tess & Dave at Checkpoint Charlie
Cole had to have a Russian hat, just like Soren. One of my all-time favorite photo’s.
The normalest picture of me & Min I could find. I ❤Min.
Thank you for sharing your insight and pictures, I didn’t know they kept part of the wall as a memorial either.
It’s so very hard to not have hatred for the vicious mongrels who do these things. I, too, feel that this world is becoming a tinderbox! I, too, ask why. I just don’t understand what their justification is for doing such things.
Over here, I’m sure you have heard of all the mess with the election and the sides people have taken. It just seems like everywhere one looks, there is evil and meanness. It is as though our country has been set back 100 years! I just can’t fathom all this.
I don’t know what the answer to all this will be, nor, how it will eventually end. But, keeping that love in our hearts is the only hope we have. If it weren’t for people like you and I and the others who are striving so hard to end world hate, this planet would be unlivable.
Blessings to you in all of this! And, Merry Christmas!
Su
I also have felt sick and yes, actually cried great big tears. I can’t imagine what pain these poor families are going through. I truly believe in the power of prayer and know God hears His people. I wish all people of faith would commit even a couple of minutes each day and pray for our nation and all countries for this horrible evil to end. I believe if we humble ourselves and pray for our nations God will heal our land — just like it says in the Bible.So often I hear too many people tell me that they just don’t want to hear about what’s going on and refuse to allow themselves to listen to the bad news. I just don’t think burying our heads in the sand is very good for any of us. We need to hear and lift our prayers to God for His protection.
I really know so well just how powerful the prayers of many are and really saw His intervention just this past spring. My niece actually died before the ambulance got her into the hospital. The doctors didn’t give us much hope for her coming back. It was a horrible time for our family and friends. We started praying round the clock and had so many who joined us in prayer. The doctors put my niece in a cold chill for a few days and then started the 8-hour warm up procedure on her body. The doctors, nurses and others never gave us much hope for her returning to us and were so surprised how well she did after she came back. She had no brain damage or any other crippling things. Her heart has been bad for some time so she has that thing implanted in her chest and so far things are going well for her. Thanks be to God.