Why We Should Remember

A year ago a gunman attacked a mosque in Quebec City.Six men were killed and nineteen injured.Lives were ended and lives were changed forever. News coverage ran its course and then it faded in the background as the cycle of every terrible event does. But of course for the people affected it does not fade. Last year I wrote the victims names on paper Ibrahima, Mamadou Khaled, Aboubaker, Abdelkrim, Azzedine and repeated the names of six men who left wives and children, parents, siblings, friends and communities. I carried the piece of paper in my pocket and included the men and their loved ones in my prayers as I walked each day. I gave voice to the tragedy for a short time afterwards and then that faded too.Days, months and a year go by. News coverage revisits it acknowledging the one year anniversary and again we remember. I realize that is the normal course of things. Each day we only hear a fraction of the suffering and terrible events in this world. We receive the somewhat manipulated accounts which give more attention to some tragedies than others. , which focuses on some losses more than others. Some victims and some assailants become household names and some get brief mention. But whether we recall names and details each tragedy leaves behind those who have no choice but to remember.So this morning I say their names again and I hold their loved ones in my prayers. I pray too for all of us because every time hatred and fear walk into a mosque, a Baptist church, a school or drive into a crowd we mourn and we should remember.