Consternation

I was on a morning stroll on Facebook last Wednesday and the news caught my eyes. Attack on Charlie Hebdo. 12 people dead. I said out loud «Quoi ???» What ?

Among the casualties, I read those names that were so familiar, Cabu, Wolinsky – all dead. “It is not possible. I can’t believe it.”

Cabu was familiar since my childhood, he was on a kid’s show then later on the Canard Enchainé, which I read every week when I became an adult. Drawings of Wolinsky were everywhere, the Canard, Paris-Match (equivalent of People)… This was devastating. American news focused most on Charb, the Editor of the newspaper but Cabu and Wolinsky were the most famous ones - for all those who were not readers of Charlie Hebdo. 

I went through the following days. I was working, talking, smiling but I was also in another dimension, curled up in a corner, in tears and pulling my hair off, repeating “I can’t believe it, I can’t believe it…” over and over and over…

I followed the news. I did not want to hear about anything else because I could not think about anything else.

The French channel, TV5 on Comcast, had good news but only once in a while. I turned to CNN and was not disappointed. They went all Breaking News and focused on what was going on in France.

That same night, I was on my way to church for a meeting. I stopped in a Starbuck – the only place for a decent hot chocolate. Two teenagers were waiting for their latte and one of them had a 6 weeks old puppy in her arms. “He was born in the garage of our neighbor, she explained, noticing my interest. A stray dog came in, had the litter there. They did not know her. We are going to keep this little guy.”

I said something nice about the pup, which made the girls curious. Apparently my accent can be heard even after a few words. They asked. “French???" said one, who seemed almost incredulous. The face of the other one saddened. “That’s terrible what happened over there. I am so sorry!” I was surprised she knew. Teenagers are often not that connected with news, particularly when something happens abroad.  

“Do you want to hold him?” she said. I took her pup in my arms. He was warm and sleepy. He moved to be more comfortable and I felt his muzzle on my neck.

A few minutes later, I walked back to my car. Something hard and tense in my chest had softened a bit.

“What is left to the human when uncertainty alone seems to be a sure thing?” wrote Marie Cenec[1].

What is left is a moment with a warm sleeping puppy in your arms.

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[1] “C’est tous les Jours Dimanche”, quoted by my friend Michele Lortscher on Facebook. 

How Not to Be Perfect

It is one thing to accept to make mistakes, like Gaiman engages us to do (see below). 

But how does one overcome the determination to succeed at the first try in a flawless way – or else abandon it all? If we open our Bible, even Jesus seems to push us toward being a perfectionist.

“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect”. (Matthew 5:48, NIV)

If the goal is matching God’s perfection, everything is unattainable. How not to feel like the wings of our audacity have been cut short, as well as any enthusiasm – a word that actually means ‘divinely inspired’?

But Jesus’ perfection is not ours. The Greek word translated by “perfect” is τέλειος (teleios) which means “wholeness, maturity”. 

This is not about being flawless but complete, accomplished. We find the same idea in words derived from Latin such as integral or integrity.

This integrity, the fullness of our being, is the goal. And one can reach it by living fully and completely. 

Rumor has it…

Apparently, we are now in 2015. 

I tend to mentally delay the unavoidable step into the New Year. Even before Christmas came along, I had a full list of things to do that I thought I would “take care of next year”. Even if “next year” became only distant by a couple of days or even a few hours, it was still on the other side of an invisible frontier, in a blurry future.

Until midnight set in.

I should not say that it took me by surprise. In the afternoon, I knew France had jumped into the future, then it was New York and the  East coast…. Until midnight reached us.

Then there was no more escaping.  We were the next day and “nex year”.

Among the wishes found on Facebook, words from author Neil Gaiman encouraged me. 

So welcome 2015 ! Let’s raise our glass to audacity, the joy to create, enthusiasm and the discovery of new horizons, curiosity and excursions beyond our limits! 

And let’s be ready to smile to the procession of inevitable mistakes to come, that we will face as graciously as possible… in other words: Happy New Year!