In times of darkness, with the distant rumbles of war pressing on our ears and the constant burden of a multitude of sorrows weighing heavy with all of the loneliness of the deepest night, we find ourselves empty. How do we respond to the raw, aching, grief of a people that we do not know, yet are inextricably bound to through the common tie of our humanity? What do we do in the face of a swelling sea of pain-filled sorrows, blatant injustices, and the heated mass of an anger that threatens to rise up and drown us as we stand here with our feet buried in the soil of a broken earth? How do we stand shoulder to shoulder with our brothers and sisters of every tongue and every nation, in the face of the rising darkness?
We look up. We remember the sweet, golden beauty of a sunrise. We remember promises made long ago and we weave them into our songs in defiance of the crushing weight of doubt. We laugh in the face of death. For that is the birthright of humanity-we will preserve it for those who cannot. We will work well, and it will be good. We will cultivate fellowship because it flouts the desperate ache of loneliness, and tends the wounds of a burdened heart. We will feast together. We will laugh, and we will dance, and we will weep together. We will speak the truth of a life beyond the pain of this one, until we know it in our bones. We will nurture, and we will allow ourselves to be nurtured. We will pray because we know that our prayers are heard by one who is only a breath away. And we will give him the burdens that are his to bear.
Beauty defies the darkness. We will tend souls as we were made to do. We will plant flowers, and glory in the sometimes rushing power, sometimes gentle touch of the wind. We will share with others the beauty that builds up inside of us. We will be human- filled with the reflection of a glory that we came from and will return to again. We will see light, and we will love it. This is how we will wage our war. And we are doing it in the 'where' and the 'when' that were destined for us. We have a hope in life and death.
-Ella Hornstra