As I was driving home today, I could feel the cold blustery weather and imminent rain headed our way.  The clouds all around were various colors of dark grey and purple and you could definitely feel the chill in the air as the smallest portion of a sun setting was far in the distant West.  As I turned the corner amidst all of this interesting landscape, I saw an opening through the clouds where the sun made one last attempt to show itself among all of the surrounded darkness.  It quickly reminded me of all of the tragedy that took place last Friday and as a nation we are all grieving along with the many families that this unfortunate incident has touched.  Everyone has to had to pick up the pieces as best they can and some people have chosen to continue to walk forward although their steps are weary and weakened.  There was a poignant piece in the news story as I arrived home about the gatherings that have taken place in this small town in Connecticut.  They had a gathering of multiple faiths that brought forth the leaders of all of the local denominations of faith that created the impetus for all of these religious leaders to embrace each other along with the families that they help pastor in this region.  It made me think about the many countries around the world that are in the middle of these strife ridden conflicts that seem to be losing ground in this area of religious acceptance.  There has been enough tragedies in all of these countries over the years that has cost the lives of many people and you would have thought that by now they should have learned a lesson or two about leaving some of these differences aside to embrace a more peaceful existence.  It will take some time for all of this to begin to make sense to any of us, however, I do look for those opportunities that would help paint a better picture of how we need to live with more peace and harmony and hope that it can be enough of a safety net when unexpected tragedies occur.  As we continue to embrace each other in providing comfort to the hurting hearts here and across the country, I hope that we remember that all of those people that left us last Friday made such wonderful contributions even though their time was cut tremendously short.  We should continue to remember that good and kind individuals walked among us and added value to all of us, including their families and friends.