The tragedy and trauma of Paris is difficult to grasp. Two articles from the New Yorker shed some light on this darkness and the difficult times ahead. George Packer, The Other France, describes how racial and religious tensions in France are longstanding and hardening of late. Philip Gourevitch, Aftermath and Prelude, describes how this kind of an attack arises from a battle between feudal and modernist notions of society.
A few verses from the Sunday lessons, however, give hope.
Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Hebrews 10:23-5.
I know legislators today are exclaiming how all Syrian refugees should be banned from various states. This discrimination based on national origin — probably not actionable because the states passing these resolutions have no actual authority to institute such bans — smacks of the kind of fear that we should be turning our backs on.