We associate Nice with holidays and short breaks. We associate Nice with all that is wholesome and good about French society and life.
And yet last evening on Bastille Day the horror of reckless violence cast a huge shadow on the lives of so many French people and visiting tourists in Nice. Our prayers and thoughts are with the families of those of whatever nationality who lost their lives and those still clinging delicately on to life. We think of the bereaved, the injured and the emergency services.
One of the psalms comes to mind as we place our prayers for peace for relatives and friends before the Lord:
“Pour l’amour de mes frères, de mes amis, laisse-moi dire: paix sur toi!
9 Pour l’amour de la maison de Yahvé notre Dieu, je prie pour ton bonheur!
(Psa 122:8-9 FBJ)
May those who have died rest in peace and may the maimed and injured, especially the many children, make a full and complete recovery.