{"id":36605,"date":"2019-03-25T06:30:22","date_gmt":"2019-03-24T17:30:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/?p=36605"},"modified":"2019-03-24T18:58:17","modified_gmt":"2019-03-24T05:58:17","slug":"from-the-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2019\/03\/25\/from-the-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"From The Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Handwritten, from the heart<\/p><\/div>\n

There is only Us,<\/span>
\nour collective heart torn apart,<\/span>
\none hundred members of our community<\/span>
\ndead or grievously injured<\/span>
\nat Al Noor and Linwood mosques.<\/span>
\nWe all came here, at our different times,<\/span>
\nin hopes of making fresh starts,<\/span>
\nnew beginnings, peace.<\/span>
\nWe have too often failed in Waitangi’s promise<\/span>
\nof “He iwi kotahi tatou —<\/span>
\nNow we are one people.”<\/span>
\nTogether, we must keep on trying.<\/span>
\nNothing can replace the fifty lives lost,<\/span>
\nbut together we can hope for healing<\/span>
\nof the fifty injured. Together,<\/span>
\nwe can hope to make that fresh start,<\/span>
\nto build a stronger future for all of us,<\/span>
\nto sow love where hate has carved its wound,<\/span>
\nto restore peace or to make it new.<\/span><\/p>\n

— Helen Lowe<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Floral tributes near Linwood mosque<\/p><\/div>\n

I wrote this last Sunday, before my partner and I took flowers to the Al Noor and Linwood cordons. Later, I wrote a more formal post, trying to formulate some sort of response to the terror attack, a response I felt was necessary because the murder of fifty fellow human beings, the majority of them fellow citizens, and the wounding of fifty more, took place not just in my country, but in my home city. That post can be read here:<\/p>\n

A Dark Day<\/a><\/h4>\n

These words, though, were the first ones I wrote, the words of my heart.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Among 20,000: all here to show support<\/p><\/div>\n

Last Friday, exactly one week on from the two acts of terror, I went to Hagley Park, along with ca. 20,000 others, to support the Christchurch Muslim community in their first public religious service since the attacks. In that service, Imam Gamal Fouda of the Al Noor mosque, and a survivor of the attack, captured the mood of the afternoon, speaking eloquently & movingly of compassion & peace, mercy & togetherness. His full speech is here:<\/p>\n

Imam Gamal Fouda<\/a><\/h3>\n

In the past ten days I have heard the harrowing accounts of survivors and family members. There have also been so many inspiring and moving moments in answer to the attacks and horrific loss of life that it’s impossible to list them all. Nonetheless, they have meant a great deal in the face of such dark and bloody acts. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, leading by example, has inspired us all.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Leaving Hagley Park, after the service<\/p><\/div>\n

Today, I would like to say only one thing more. On Friday, some New Zealand women who attended the support events chose to wear a hijab to show visible support for NZ’s Muslim women. I saw a great deal of discussion of this on the internet. (Of course I did!) One common statement, when NZ was criticised for this particular aspect of our response, was (here I summarise and paraphrase) that “they” (Muslim communities in the commenter’s country or around they world) wouldn’t “do the same” (i.e. remove their hijabs, wear a cross or a Star of David or other religious symbol) if a similar atrocity “was committed against us.”<\/p>\n

My response on first seeing these comments, and now, remains the same: Actually, it doesn’t matter what “they” (whether Muslims or other religious or cultural groups in like circumstances) might or might not do at some time in the future. All that matters is what we choose to do now, in response to this act, out of the love in our hearts — and certainly not in the spirit of a transaction that hopes for a future return.<\/p>\n

Having said that, I believe that Imam Gamal Fouda’s words on Friday also epitomise love and a generosity of spirit that at least matches the aroha and support from his fellow New Zealanders.<\/p>\n

Today I wish you love, compassion, kindness, generosity of spirit and peace. May we all be willing to show it, regardless<\/em> of whether we find it in return.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is only Us, our collective heart torn apart, one hundred members of our community dead or grievously injured at Al Noor and Linwood mosques. We all came here, at our different times, in hopes of making fresh starts, new beginnings, peace. We have too often failed in Waitangi’s promise of “He iwi kotahi tatou […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36605"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36605\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36624,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36605\/revisions\/36624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}