This. . .Is The Place – The Manchester Vigil – May 23, 2017

The Manchester Bombing – steely resolve, but emotional scars.
Much as Past Daily is devoted to history and events of the past, sometimes the events of the present make you stop and leave you with a feeling of intense sadness and anger. The events of last evening have left with me with a profound feeling of loss.
I suppose this incident has affected me worse than other such incidents; not that the others are less despicable than this one, but that this took place in what I consider sacred ground. However you feel about Ariana Grande, or any current music for that matter, the bottom line is this; Music is, for many of us, the glue that holds us together, the common ground that brings us together; the notes and sounds that take us out of ourselves and, for however long it takes, brings us to a place of peace and happiness.
Music has a power to heal, to express feelings we are sometimes at a loss to convey – music is intrinsically linked to our higher selves. That middle area between our physical and spiritual natures. Music suggests the better things.
And when something as devastating as a terrorist bombing happens, an act that has no other purpose than to maim and destroy – and it is done in a place where there is music, it violates that place of peace, of solace – it rips apart the glue that holds us together.
I felt that way about the terror attack in Paris, at the Bataclan – how the ugliness and devastation took place in the midst of an aura of joy reminded me so much of that one.
And so it’s been a day of reflection and listening to reports, and being struck by the outpouring at the vigil which took place earlier today in Manchester – how a moment like this brings those with no malice or hatred together to reiterate to the world that we are not all like that; that we are all in this together. That we are facing life on life’s terms on a daily basis and all we want is peace and a sense of happiness to sustain us.
I was particularly struck by Poet Tony Walsh’s “This . . .Is The Place” – an affirmation and a re-dedication to the spiritual nature of ourselves and an emotional balm to those in anguish and pain over this day and the others just like it – and those days that will inevitably lie ahead.
I thought I would run it here, in case you haven’t heard it yet, but I suspect it will be a familiar piece in the days/weeks/months to come.
We just can’t forget who we are.
Thank you
I’ve linked to this because … well … you and Tony Walsh have said it.
Thank you.