This is nothing to do with religion, nothing to do with faith, nothing to do with any kind of cause worth anything at all
It says nothing about humanity’s desire to leave a world in any way better for the generations which come after us. It does not resonate in any way with how life itself strives for better adaptation. There is nothing here of any rationale, nothing here of anything which might make us hope humankind has anything to admire, to desire to emulate about itself.
All of that lies only within the hearts, minds and actions of those who came forward to succour and protect those who have been victims of an act perpetrated by deluded, aberrant, distasteful and irretrievably stupid, on every possible level, individuals
Children. Targetting children, a concert appealing to, particularly, young girls. A clearly deliberate choice, no doubt with the desire to provoke the deep distaste and revulsion that it does.
This is the worst our sorry species might be capable of – any who get sucked into these kinds of acts by believing they are following a ‘cause’ are deluded and in denial of their own true dark desires – these are the bullies, these are those who sublimate their own deep mental and emotional sickness and insufficiency by pretending to themselves that they are serving some greater purpose.
All they do is reveal the generosity, compassion, and humanity of those many others who rushed forwards to help, support, save, soothe, rescue, in all the ways they could.
We may not get to know the names of the admirable many, who remind us, in our helpless rage and despair, of what we can be, of what we want to be. But they are the ones I so surely need to focus on, and to hold like a beacon in my mind. They are the health and the wholeness.
Lady Fancifull 
I couldn’t agree more with every word you say, Lady F – this is the lowest of the low and it breaks my heart.
There is such an overwhelming feeling of helplessness, such a wish to do something, such incomprehension which I think most of humanity (I hope and believe) must feel.
I totally agree with what you’ve so elegantly expressed here.
Thank you Grass and Vanilla, of course I wish I had not had the need to write it
Well said, m’dear.
Such hard times, for so many
Our hearts are with those touched by this horror, across the world, but so close. I also think of the damage done to the young people who must live on after witnessing such terrible events at a moment when they should have felt uplifted by music and companionship. I do hope they too can hold onto the good in people that you identified.
It’s incomprehensible – how can a parent explain this, to a child? It requires, at times, great effort to know the wondrousness of humankind, as those who are so much less than wondrous, in a variety of ways and actions, make their devastating effects felt. I think of the unceasing, hard, tender and attentive work it takes for parents to raise their little ones to flower and fulfill their best potential. And for that to be savagely destroyed, in an instant.
The act itself, a horror. Then, amidst all the help others were trying, in their various ways, to offer, it has also turned out that some were posting fake information of people supposedly missing, which of course those genuinely trying to help were tweeting onwards.
Horrible. Absolutely horrible. I’m told (my husband has read “The Better Angels of Our Nature”) that on the whole, humanity is becoming less violent. Things like this shake my faith in that observation.
I think we have to consciously remind ourselves to look for the kindness in the majority, though discovering that there have been those willing to capitalise on this tragedy by different shameful behaviour, in some ways fills me more with despair than the groomed and deluded actions of a young man subject to baleful influences. Grande has decided to offer a free concert to those who came to the first one, with some additional tickets for sale, the money from which is to go the charities for those injured and bereaved. Apparently there have been double the number of people applying for the free tickets as actually attended – so greedy, selfish people falsely claiming entitlement – and some of the tickets for sale immediately appeared on auction sites at inflated prices, so again, greed trumping generosity. This makes me feel remarkably violent, it is another act of shabbiness and contemptibility. I have to remind myself there will be thousands and millions more who would never dream of such mean and despicable actions
Unbelievable! How low can people stoop? Have they no shame? It’s so difficult to retain ones faith in humanity. So reminding oneself that the majority are good people is important, possibly essential, to our overall mental health.