A Time of Sorrow

 

 

I wanted to share some good news. 

And I waited until today, out of respect for all of the bad news, the tragedy in Moncton, New Brunswick during the past week.

The funeral services for the three Moncton RCMP officers, who were killed in the line of duty, are over.  But the grief and shock are not anywhere close to finished.  The eerie feeling, the palpable distress that hangs over the city will take time, perhaps a long time, to dissipate and to heal.

I've listened to friends speak of a loss of innocence, a loss of feeling safe and secure.  Perhaps "safe" and "secure" were always just a self-delusion, a necessary suspension of reality that allowed us to hope that our city is a good place, a sheltered haven.

After last week, I can now imagine what it is like to live where gunshots, murder, injury are all around me and where hiding in one's home is necessary to avoid harm.

There are many worldwide who face this reality every day, and for all of their lives.  My heart aches for them, as it does for those in Moncton who have lost colleagues, friends, husbands and fathers this week.

Our world may yet be a place of goodness and of hope, but for now it is a place of terrible loss and unbearable sorrow.

Because of that, I will wait another day to share good news.  It still feels out-of-sync.

My sympathies reach out to those who have been affected by this tragedy. 

I am so sorry for your loss and your pain.

This photo is not mine.  It posted on Facebook as RCMP officers marched to the Moncton Coliseum for the funeral services yesterday.