The news was shocking. At a wonderful street Vancouver
festival of Filipino people and culture a man turned his SUV into a killing machine and killed eleven people and wounded many others (we are uncertain of their condition in hospital).
Too many Canadians are afraid to come to grips with the reality of evil. But now evil is right in our face.
Let us focus on the victims. These were ordinary people, working and selling; many just enjoying the festival and many enjoying being together in music, food, dance and story -telling. Into this wonderful celebration of being human, explodes death and destruction.
Every death with a weapon is senseless. There are no explanations to make sense of why the innocent would lose their lives. But each victim has a family and connection to many friends and co-workers. No explanation is possible for these people. The effects of this senseless tragedy will last for generations. The pain will not be felt only in the months of 20225. There will be so many struggles in the lives of the survivors; years down the line.
When I watch on the news of strangers carrying flowers to leave as a shrine to the victims I too experience the compassion that these strangers (nameless) people have toward their fellow human beings. Their actions arise from a heart that knows that death and tragedy strikes all of us. We must grieve together. Every handful of flowers left behind speaks loudly of compassion and solidarity. We may not know the victims or belong to your ethnic group but we care, cry and grieve with you. Your loss is also our loss.
This tragedy was in no way sent by God. This was done by a human being and he must be held responsible for such evil action.
But as believers we stand before God and we ask why. We stand in all our powerlessness and try to seek some answers. But we will find that there are no answers that could ever satisfy the human heart.
We connect with our ancestors in the faith and shout to God for help and strength to get through this. Be with us in the pain, the senselessness of this evil. This must be our walk through the dark night holding the hand of God in faith and trust.
We are living life in the raw. Our prayers are for the many victims of this tragedy and with ourselves that we walk in solidarity with the Filipino community, seeking the hand of God in our tears and our stumbling walk through this suffering.