The world has once again been rattled.
Something about the recent events in Brussels sliced right through to the centre of my heart. I remember all the way back to the September 11 attacks quite vividly, and yet the terror attacks in Brussels have shaken me to my core.
It took me a while, but I think I finally understand why. What enlightened me was Facebook itself. After Paris, all I saw was compassion and inclusion in people's words. Now, there is only anger.
If we are not careful in how we fight this battle, we may lose the exact things we are fighting to keep.
A Time to Fight. A Time to Celebrate.
Have you ever been in an Apple Store when someone has purchased something big? Employees roar with celebration, they clap as loudly as they can, they whoop and whistle and jump up and down as the person walks out of the store, with a large smile and a large purchase in their hands. It's a huge ruckus and is both exhilarating and hilarious to watch.
In this strange and uncertain time, we could all take a bite out of Apple's philosophy.
It is easy to abuse people at the top of your voice. It is easy to close ourselves off and scream at one another. It is easy to be divided in our anger and our fear. So, in the strange fight thrust upon us, how do we battle?
Our fight, surprisingly, is in the little things. We should express excitement in bigger and crazier ways. We should jump up and down with happiness at the slightest achievement or success. Smile without boundaries. Laugh uproariously. Punch our fists in the air.
Be absolutely and completely vulnerable in the way we love others.
It is hard to foresee a future without constant fear and we have reached a point in the fight where it now makes us defensive and retaliatory. However, our world has been here before. It has experienced tyranny and it has experienced horror. It has been shoved to its knees by darkness.
The most important thing now is not to survive. It is how we survive.
Happiness and excitement and celebration, encouragement and motivation and inspiration—we need an outpouring, a gushing flood of these now more than ever. All these things and never in moderation.
Simply celebrate. Simply love.
During World War II, Winston Churchill gave this statement in answer to President Roosevelt:
'We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire. Neither the sudden shock of battle nor the long-drawn trials of vigilance and exertion will wear us down. Give us the tools and we will finish the job.'
Our God consistently challenges us to seek vulnerability and not lose vulnerability or compassion in our anger. Your tool to fight is as simple as this: open yourself up to experiencing and expressing the kind of simple and unbounded love to which God calls us.
I understand it is easy to look at this argument and call me soft, or weak, or tell me I don't understand the reality of people dying; but you have to remember what we are fighting for. We are not fighting for our right to shout at each other, to rip each other to shreds or to be selfish in any way.
We are fighting for our right to feel safe. For our right to love. For our right to think. For the type of freedom Jesus fought for on the Cross.
Do not hold back on your excitement or your happiness. Do not get caught up in the bigger picture of terror and fear, and miss the exquisite rose bush or a child's gorgeous smile, or a friend's hug. Use this time, as we fight on, to seek happiness and love each other in bigger and bolder ways than ever before.
So then, on the other side, happiness will not be a foreign concept because we were so focused on the darkness.
Talisa Pariss is the co-ordinator of the school-based Louder Theatre Company, teaching drama, communication skills and confidence to kids. When she's not pretending for a living, she can be found indulging in any kind of creativity she can get her hands on.
Talisa Pariss's previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/talisa-pariss.html