Atoning for Alan Kurdi

We could’ve been his haven. Instead, his family’s hopes ended in the sea off Bodrum.

By Crawford Kilian, 4 Sep 2015, TheTyee.ca

It might have been the shore at Spanish Banks, or the edge of a lake in Ontario’s cottage country. It was every parent’s nightmare. Alan Kurdi’s little body on a Turkish beach might have been our kid’s, in the moment when everything good in our life vanished.

Alan Kurdi, with brother Ghalib. Photo: Twitter.

I just looked away for a second —

I was sure he was safe —

I should have —

If only — 

But no excuse will serve, no alibi will stand up. Alan is beyond all suffering, but he is also beyond forgiving us. “One” used to be pronounced “own,” and “atonement” means to become “at one” again with those we have wronged. But we can never become at one with Alan Kurdi.

Atonement is a faith-filled concept. Crawford Kilian has a wonderful reflection on what Canada is / was / can be. I suggest it is worthwhile reading at: http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2015/09/04/Atoning-for-Alan-Kurdi/?utm_source=nationalweekly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=040915

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