What do you do when faced with such evil?
We awoke this morning, 16th March 2019, to a sound that brought back memories of eight years ago. The throb of low-flying helicopters circling a devastated city. Eight years ago, the trauma was clearly visible: The earth itself torn and buckled and homes destroyed. But the real damage was in our hearts.
This time, there is nothing different to wake to, but the unseen damage is still there. We woke to a city changed again. You can feel it in the air. You can see it in people’s faces. And again, eight years on from our devastating earthquakes, Christchurch is faced with more changes, and they are unlikely to be for the better, as necessary as they may be deemed.
But now is not the time for analysis or agendas. That will come soon enough.
Now, firstly it is time to grieve and pay respects. My family and I are headed to Hagley Park to show our support and sympathy for the victims and the scarred survivors of this act of evil.
Yesterday I came home from work, ready to head to school to pick up our 3 youngsters, and my partner Nicky and I found ourselves waiting for several tense hours while the school, along with every other school in Christchurch, was held in lockdown. We were asked to go back home and wait for news. We did no such thing. Parental instinct kept us in vigil at the school gates. Family comes first, always.
So what do you do in the face of such evil? How do you deal with something that feasts and grows bloated on human fear? What do you do when confronted with overwhelming odds?
You shed your tears, then you get up, you stand up straight, and you look that evil in the face and you DENY it the fear it seeks.
Here I am and here I remain and no evil do I fear.
More to come on this horror and it’s aftermath.
Martin Harris
