The Loss Of What Is Good In Us (My Opinion)

Today, social media is a-buzz with outpourings of grief and sadness about the burning of the Notre Dame Cathedral. Like many others, I also felt a sadness at the loss. But, as I saw picture after picture and comment after comment about this, I stopped to ask myself "What are we really grieving here?"

Why is there such an outpouring of grief over this 800 year old building, but not over a 1000 year old tree? Why such expression of grief with one building when there's little mention about many historical buildings have been destroyed by war in the Middle East?

Questioning my own grief, I learned this:

Notre Dame represented some of the good in man. It was a symbol of our creativity and our ability to create something of beauty. It shows us that, although our lives are brief, we can live on in creations like this. Notre Dame shows us that mankind is beautiful and enduring. It shows our ability to contribute something unique in this world that even Mother Nature can't produce. In a time where we are seeing much of man's ugliness, it's nice to be able to see our beauty.

We don't like to think of the loss of beautiful historic buildings in Syria because man caused it through the ugliness of war. We don't like to the see the 1000 year old tree sawed down for the same reasons. We don't like seeing our ugliness.

The fire took away our legacy of beauty and reminded us of our mortality. We will turn to dust. All that we are and have been will turn to dust. We won't matter anymore...and actually we never did really matter.

So what do we do now?

How many pictures of Notre Dame pre-fire should we post to remember and honor the beauty and art in man?

I believe it's still important to reflect and honor the beauty of Notre Dame of days past. It's important to remind ourselves of the beauty we are capable of creating. Even though this will all turn to dust eventually, it's important to continue to create beauty. Why? Positive energy.

The beauty of Notre Dame does not lay in it's material form...it is in the positive energy it creates. Positive energy heals. Positive energy dispels negative energy. This is the legacy of Notre Dame.

To answer the question "What do we do now?", I will say this. Create beauty. Create positive energy. Manifest the good in man. And as French President Emmanuel Macron promises: Rebuild Notre Dame.