Several years ago I sat on The Avenue des Champs-Élysées to observe the ebb and flow of Paris, witnessing firsthand what Hemingway called a “Moveable Feast.” The sights, the sounds, the scents, and the Seine were magical. People smiled and said hello.
Paris, known as the City of Lights and the City of Love, teems with a vitality I’ve not experienced elsewhere on earth.
The beauty of Paris is remarkable, the architecture superb, the museums breathtaking, the bridges charming, the restaurants magnificent, and the wine superb.
My wife and I stood beneath the Rose Window in the Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris bathed in multi-colored sunlight. A woman threw me a kiss as she walked a magnificent white dog beside the river. A man proposed to his girlfriend on Pont Neuf. A lock on one of the famed Bridges of Paris carries my wife’s and my name, sealing our love forever.
At night, a lighted Paris appears touched by the hand of God. By day, his angels stand watch on innumerable buildings including the Théâtre du Châtelet and the gilded sundial inside a courtyard at the Sorbonne.
Friday, sadly, God’s angels were weeping and tears rimmed Mona Lisa’s eyes.
Yet, again, the hand of the devil slapped Paris in the face, this time embodied in a group of terrorists who killed innocent people, people who loved and, as you and I do, yearned for a better tomorrow.
Back in the 1940s, the world did not tolerate Satan’s cuff across Paris’ cheek.
What happens this time? Will the tragedy of another terrorist attack arouse sleeping giants? Will good and noble men and women say ‘enough?’ Or, will world leaders slink away from their bold words, from a call of duty and honor, only to bury their heads in the sand?
While Paris weeps from what France’s president called ‘an act of war,’ we wait and watch and hope that light trumps darkness, that the loved ones of those who died find peace, that vindication is on the horizon, and that good triumphs over evil.
We should never forget the words of Edmund Burke: The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
God’s angels are watching and waiting.
Putting a lock on the beautiful pont des Arts in Paris is vandalism. It is the defacement of an historical monument, commissioned by Napoleon Bonaparte and built in 1804. Not only should you not have done it but also you should not brag about it.
This is your take-away on the article? Interesting …
The sane people of Paris rallied the second night, in spite of police admonitions to stay home. If any good comes from this great tragedy, it will be that the good will unite. I’ve been reading about Muslim groups coming out and forcefully denouncing the terrorism.
It is unfortunate that the lone gunman probably will never be stopped, but that is the price we pay for a free society. The solution is to figure out why (mostly young) people want to blow themselves up for a cause and address that.