Terrorist attacks this week in France have set the western world on edge. Even though Paris is on the other side of the Atlantic we are linked by ideals. Together we cherish freedom of expression, a free press and religious freedom all of which bind us with the entirety of the free world.

What was meant to chasten us, has instead ignited a passion for those freedoms. In nation after nation, spontaneous gatherings in support of Charlie Hebdo have taken place. There will always be people who would suppress speech and suppress ideals of freedom. There will always be those who would impose their own religious values on the rest of us.

France’s victims are our kinsmen and women. A world away, yet our hearts grieve. We pray for family and friends of those who died. We pray for any who are intent on doing evil in God’s name. We pray for hearts to change and truth to break through minds which have confused evil as good. We pray for our Muslim friends and neighbors who carry the burden of false blame. We pray for healing in this divided world that there will come a day when the lion and the lamb will lie down together in peace. We pray that in some way, we may be peacemakers.