The Hope After News That Shattered a Holiday Weekend

The joy of the holiday season was a bit shattered this past weekend as the news continued to pour in on the second to last weekend before Christmas and the start of Hanukkah

First it was the shooting at Brown University in Rhode Island where a gunman opened fire in a classroom building, killing two people and wound nearly 10 more. 

Then it was the news flash from Australia. A mass shooting at a celebration of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah with at least 15 dead and more than 40 wounded. 

In San Diego, news broke of two Saturday night fatal pedestrian crashes one leaving a 15-year-old boy dead and that same night, two San Diego police officers being hit by a wrong way DUI driver.

And then on Sunday night, the stunning news of Rob Reiner and his wife found murdered in their Brentwood home.

It was a weekend that could reflect what the words of a poem by Henry Wordsworth Longfellow during the Civil War said about “hate being strong” and “peace on earth” maybe just a dream.

The poem became a song called, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” that ends with encouraging words of hope. A song worth listening to during here in our times.

(Getty Images)