Pray

What does it mean to close our eyes? We could say to feel, to be in concentration or deep meditation. Well, maybe to wither the pain or to drown out a very uncomfortable feeling inside of us. The weekend that passed was very tragic. We all heard the news - gunshots and bombs hit Paris, the city of love. Who would have thought it to happen? In a concert hall not too far from the Eiffel tower, men with their guns aimed randomly at people while shouting words that could not be understood but seemed like they wanted to avenge. It was a total sight nobody wanted to see. As some of the reports called it, it was a "bloodbath." It was a total horror.

The French police are now trying to figure out the culprit and the motive behind the tragic killing and the suicide bombers that invaded their lives on that very day. There is a strong inclination that the one responsible for the attack might be the ISIS but for sure it was a terrorist group that wanted to make a statement to the rest of the world: that revenge takes lives, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. But lives of innocents were involved and many others who did not deserve to die died. Days after we could not comprehend, the world seems scary as it already is.

On social media, a lot are tagging themselves "safe" from the Paris attacks. An irritating notification would pop out once in a while of people claiming their safety from the attack when in fact they have never been to France. They were only some who joined in the bandwagon of being tagged in. The surge of those who availed of this feature seemed to defeat the purpose of informing those concerned of who were actually safe. And another feature came, those who wanted could change their profile pictures to colors of the flag of France which I presume showed support. It was okay, at first, but then others didn't really seem to understand what that was for. Or it seemed like it.

Then the whole world turned into blue, white and red as if depicting the French flag in some of the most famous monuments, the Sydney Opera House and the Statue of Liberty included. It was a signed called to support, be in grief, and pray for those who have lost their lives and their loved ones - a sight that could have been a unity among the nations.

Have you prayed for the souls of the departed because of the Paris violence? I hope every prayer uttered was a hope that there would be peace all throughout. And mind you, it is not only Paris that needs our prayers. Before the attack of the weekend, many were also dead in Beirut. Even in our country, there are Lumad killings in Mindanao. Filipinos are killing their fellow Filipinos which is dreadful and sad. We did not even bother to protest against this. Rather, did we even know that this is happening in our own country?

So I close my eyes and try to process everything that has been happening. I try to remember what on Earth am I here for? Maybe someday I'll truly learn what it means to have my eyes closed: for good or for better? Right now a prayer seems safe for those who have departed from their loved ones and are victims of terrorism across the globe.