New Zealand, We Grieve with You

We have family who are residents of New Zealand. One cousin lives in Christchurch. Thankfully, she was visiting family on the North Island on March 15th, the day of the terror attack. My daughter, who was just there visiting family, arrived home the day of the tragedy with news that our family is safe. However, the pain and horrific tragedy has wounded the hearts of the nation and the world. I feel the words of the New Zealand people themselves give truer voice than any outsider could express. One cousin posted this picture of two women of different faiths embracing with the caption, “This is your home and you should have been safe here.”

This is a drawing by Ruby Jones, a young Wellington artist whose illustration in reaction to the shooting has gone viral. In addition to the worldwide reaction to her picture and words, she said, “I have also had a lot of messages from the Muslim community all over the world telling me how much it has meant to them to see themselves in the image, and how strongly it represents the idea of being together as one.”
Here are two New Zealanders’ comments on it:

“As a resident of Christchurch and New Zealand we stand together as one we are one people our hearts are broken … we are so sorry we cannot believe this has happened.”

“Yes, absolutely Kiwis no matter what race or creed should be safe in our land of the great white cloud, a sad day for all New Zealanders. Thank you to our NZ Police Force for their brave actions and capturing the culprits responsible for this heinous act of violence against fellow Kiwis.”

In the face of such atrocities we hold one another in kindness and compassion as an antidote to despair and fear. We grieve with the people of New Zealand.