A picture for peace and empathy
I received my daughter’s text around 2am.
‘We had a good time and we’re SAFE’ it read.
Big relief!
It would be this weekend she chose to be in London for a big gig!
Luckily I hadn’t watched the news before I went to bed last night, otherwise the restless, sleepless, hyper night I occasionally have (hence how I saw the text) would have turned into a living nightmare of worry – my own piece of terror – as the events of the attacks unfolded.
I cannot begin to imagine the intensity of the grief parents feel – anyone feels – at losing loved ones in these horrnedous attacks in London and Manchester recently. It must be well nigh impossible to come to terms with the injustice and brutality of the needless loss of those who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or understand how anyone can have such disregard for the innocent?
The loss and desperation families must feel is too great to conceive. Their sorrow too huge to contemplate.
Whilst I remain almost guiltily grateful we have been spared, I feel the collective grief and sympathy towards those who were not. Mine, though, must be miniscule in comparison.
How crass and irrelevant it seems to even be thinking about things like blogging, or the election, or education for that matter. Except that you hope that through these means of communication and change we are able to build a better world.
Raising and educating our children in the ways of peace, non-violence, care, love and empathy for others each and every one, regardless of race and beliefs, and for the earth on which we all depend despite our creed, must surely be the abiding core of everything we teach, everything we believe, and above all we practise.
And surely, this practice must be a commitment that is greater than any curriculum, any religion, any political party, greater even than ourselves.
The way we parent and educate is where it starts. There is nothing more important to teach than that.
Ross Mountney's Notebook 