
So I missed yesterday’s “Friday’s Smile” post. I’ve been trying to use each Friday’s blog entry to close out the week with a positive, uplifting, heartwarming thought, a routine I’d like to continue, btw.
But the past seven or eight days have been rough:
- a “bomb cyclone” in the upper midwest caused catastrophic flooding in Nebraska, Missouri, and Illinois, destroying lives (4 confirmed dead), towns, home, farms, livestock, and thousands of acres of crops;
- On the eastern shore of a continent on the other side of the Atlantic, Cyclone Idai wiped out some 400 lives (400 confirmed dead) and countless livelihoods in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi, displacing hundreds of thousands of people who, for the most part, are already the (often forgotten) poorest of the poor with few resources;
- On the other side of the world, a lunatic white supremacist attacked two congregations of Muslims in Christchurch (New Zealand), claiming 50 lives and injuring 50 more, including children.
- Due west from us, on the far side of the Pacific a pesticide plant explosion in eastern China killed dozens of workers (64 confirmed dead, dozens missing) and injured hundreds, the likely cause of which was human negligence at a factory with dozens and dozens of safety violations in recent years.
I could go on, but you get the point: people all over the world have seen much tragedy this week. And with so much sadness, outrage, and helplessness worldwide, it felt heartless, narcissistic, and flippant to post something silly about which I could smile. Yet…