Agatha Said, pt. 6

Happy Agatha Day! We have made it through March, although it sure seemed to last forever. I thought about skipping a quote this month, but then I remembered that Agatha had some things to say about the state of the world that are perfect for what we’re all going through right now. It’s a longer quote, but it’s absolutely worth a read.

Agatha Said:

“There is at least the dawn, I believe, of a kind of good will. We mind when we hear of earthquakes, of spectacular disasters to the human race. We want to help. That is a real achievement; which I think must lead somewhere. Not quickly — nothing happens quickly — but at any rate we can hope. I think sometimes we do not appreciate that second virtue which we mention so seldom in the trilogy — faith, hope and charity. Faith we have had, shall we say, almost too much of — faith can make you bitter, hard, unforgiving; you can abuse faith. Love we cannot but help knowing in our own hearts is the essential. But how often do we forget that there is hope as well, and that we seldom think about hope? We are ready to despair too soon, we are ready to say, ‘What’s the good of doing anything?’ Hope is the virtue we should cultivate most in this present day and age.”

(more…)

When Tragedy Strikes

Confession: I cringe every time a tragedy occurs, and not just because of the tragedy itself.

As if the loss of life isn’t devastating enough, what makes it worse is the aftermath. The speculation, the debate, the blaming. In the blink of an eye, people’s deaths become a case study, supporting evidence for any number of agendas. People die, and the world explodes with theories of why it happened and how it could have been prevented.

I’m not saying that’s not a worthwhile discussion. It’s absolutely necessary to study tragedies to figure out how to prevent them. (more…)








sorrow

I went for a hike on Sunday. I needed to get away, to take to the woods. I don’t know whether it’s a writer thing, or an introvert thing, or what, but like Robert Frost, I sometimes find myself with the need to take to the woods and bask in the silence of trees.

I’ve stopped watching the news, with all the noise and the opinions and the speculation. I did, though, read about the victims. I always do, when something so terrible happens. Because I want to think of them as people, not as symptoms of some larger, societal problem or as tools to promote an agenda. Sometimes I think every time someone reframes the story, the people get lost.

I wanted to acknowledge them as individuals, as human beings with hopes and dreams. A woman whose boyfriend was about to propose. A little boy who wanted to be a paleontologist. A little girl who loved horses. Teachers who put themselves between a gunman and their students. Children who still believed in Santa. Brothers, sisters, daughters, sons. (more…)