I have had much to say about the shoot down of Malaysian Flight 17.  The media is telling us a lot and some may not be true. Some things may be exaggerated or twisted up. There are some things I am certain of. This shoot down of a civilian plane is an act of war. Pure and simple. Nothing anyone says can change that fact. There were eighty children and 3 infants killed. How do parents and grandparents deal with this senseless loss? A hole has been punched into the family of man. I can only imagine what they must be enduring. I personally can’t see how they can survive this loss.

Only by a careful search of the crime scene will we ever have answers. But we have been told that people have been looting and removing items from the scene. A souvenir, really? That is what matters to these people? That is so sick and so wrong. There is no way to excuse this behavior. War is killing innocent children here and in the war between the Palestinians and the Israelites. War is no answer. War is only going to bring more hatred and violence. Thousands of years have passed and human beings have still not learned to live in peace. This is shameful.

                                                                                      Innocent people are killed in war…guns are being shot. Missiles bring down 

                                                                                      planes. Why? War? 

The other thing which disturbs me is that bodies are still lying on the ground. They are beginning to decompose and valuables are being taken. The Ukraine is not in charge of the land that the plane was shot down in. No one is in charge. No one is guaranteeing the dignity of the victims. This is unacceptable. Their souls have left but the families deserve to be able to bury their dead loved ones. Each corpse deserves to be treated with respect and sacredness. It doesn’t matter what their nationality or religion is. The people at the site need to treat these dead as they would their own loved ones.

“O Thou, the Cause and Effect of the whole Universe, the Source from whence we have come and the Goal towards which all are bound: receive these souls who are coming to Thee into Thy parental arms. May Thy forgiving Glance heal their hearts. Lift them from the denseness of the earth, surround them with the light of Thine own Spirit, Raise them up to Heaven, which is their true dwelling place. We pray Thee grant them the blessing of Thy most exalted Presence. May their lives upon earth become as a dream to their waking soul, and let their thirsting eyes behold the glorious Vision of Thy Sunshine. Amen.

—Hazarat Inayat Khan

In Memoriam to the passengers of Flight 17 Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014