Wednesday 15 June 2016

Heaven Weeps


Caleb McGrew, right, wipes tears as he stands with his partner Yosniel Delgado Giniebra, center, during a vigil in memory of the victims of the Orlando mass shooting, Sunday, June 12, 2016, in Miami Beach, Fla. A gunman opened fire inside a crowded gay nightclub early Sunday, before dying in a gunfight with SWAT officers, police said.  (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
We are all still reeling from the terrible events in Orlando this weekend. As I am writing this, I can barely hold back the tears. 49 innocent lives have been lost in an act of senseless violence.

The LGBT community around the world watched in horror as the news started to unfold about the sheer scale and horror of the shooting.

Slowly, the 49 victims are becoming visible to us. Young men, barely twenty years old, snuffed out in an act of brutality that is impossible to comprehend. A young couple that was planning to get married - now they will be buried together. Pictures of people on their way to the Pulse nightclub, full of laughter as they were looking forward to an evening of fun with their friends. Now they are no more. The grief and pain is almost unbearable.

As a community we stand together, shoulder to shoulder with the families and friends of those whose loved ones were murdered. We cannot begin to imagine the grief and suffering they are going through. The years of pain that lie ahead. The recurring question, which they will ask over and over. Why?

All we can hold onto at this time is that God will one day wipe away every tear and that love will triumph over evil.

BERLIN, GERMANY - JUNE 13:  A visitor places flowers at a makeshift memorial during a vigil for victims of a shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida the previous day, in front of the United States embassy on June 13, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. Fifty people were killed and at least as many injured during a Latin music event at the Pulse club in the deadliest mass shooting in the United States and the worst terror attack there since 9/11. The American-born gunman had pledged allegiance to ISIS, though officials have yet to find conclusive evidence of his having any direct connection with foreign extremists.  (Photo by Adam Berry/Getty Images)

But today heaven weeps.