I offer a prayer for the victims and their families of last night’s terror attacks in Paris. I know no words can ease the pain they feel right now. I pray that those killed in the attack find eternal peace and happiness and watch over their loved ones on this plane of existence. I pray that they experience the perfect love and joy that we were meant to enjoy in eternity. I pray that the families of the victims find peace and strength and remember the love and happiness they enjoyed before the horrific attack. I pray that their faith is strong enough to sustain them and that they look forward to meeting their loved ones again in a perfect eternity.
I also pray for the terrorists. I pray that they acquire understanding and perspective. I pray that they realize they are being manipulated by evil and that they risk their own eternity by allowing themselves to do so. I pray that they understand that the pain and sorrow they create in this life will follow them and that there is NEVER a benefit to creating negativity. There is only the illusion of one. Whether they perished in the attack or not, there is a consequence – in this world and the next. I pray for the organizers who manipulate these folks for their own “benefit”, that they too see the consequential reality of their actions.
I pray for all of our leaders, and for each of us, that we find it in our hearts to start choosing love instead of hatred and war as our response. That may seem tough to choke down, but think about it. If there were a creator of evil, one whose sole purpose was to destroy, corrupt and create negativity and pain, would this thing not create situations to divide us? Would it not try to distract us from filling the world with peace and love and moving closer to God? Would it not do all it could to make us hate? It would. That’s why Jesus told us to turn the other cheek. We are not turning the other cheek in weakness. We are turing it in Love, in accordance with the directive sent to us from our Creator. We are turning the other cheek so that we can move closer to a world in which terrorism does not exist, one in which perfect happiness and love rule the day, and people forever live in a state of joy and gratitude.
There is no problem that exists today which cannot be eliminated peacefully. We need to keep a correct perspective, communicate, educate and yes, love our enemies. Anything but that is sure to lead to more hatred, more sorrow and more problems. Don’t let evil triumph over love and goodness – continue to fill the world with love and goodness and help bring us closer to God.