A Moment of Silence

I am speechless.

I am speechless, not in the good way, by what I read on the BBC News webpage today. I don't know the words to express my own sad hopelessness, my own quiet despair, at the death of the little toddler thus far referred to as, 'Baby P.' I will pray for his father, and for his nan. I will take comfort that I have never doubted, even at times of spiritual crisis in my life, that there is a wonderful, eternal Heaven awaiting anyone who dies before a certain age (the age may vary depending on the individual's abilities and upbringing, but it's certainly always greater than 17 months).

I will pray for myself, that I don't give into the utter vicarious misery that I feel, when I think of that poor, suffering little boy. And I will thank the God I was taught to believe in, that whatever my personal failings, whatever emotional and spiritual instabilities have plagued me, I know it is not in me to willingly allow my children to be harmed. I don't understand Baby P's mother, and indeed, if I understood her better I would be sick to my stomach. I don't know that I could live, if I thought that I had the same kind of tendencies within me.

Which is not to say I don't have violent tendencies of my own. If I had been Baby P's mother, I might well be headed to prison now, but for an entirely different reason. I'd be off to HM prisons because the second he laid a hand on my son, I'd have ripped out my partner's entrails and choked him to death with them.

Ahem. And on that fiercely protective note--I'm glancing over at my babies even at this moment, making sure they are well--I'll resume my efforts to obtain peace through prayer. And I invite anyone who reads this (if anyone ever does) to join me in a moment of prayerful silence, on behalf of Baby P and those who loved him. I'm not bothered if you don't believe in the Judeo-Christian God I claim as my own. Pray to any god or goddess you like. I'm not even concerned if you don't believe in any god at all. By all means, light a white candle and send out your own inner goodness to his family. I'm just requesting that you take the time to remember a little boy who shouldn't have to be remembered at all.

He should be being experienced, for the next 60 or 70 years or so.

Let us pray.