Once my sisters and I were visiting our parents with our families, pooling all of their grandchildren together, ages 18 months to six years. At the time, that made for seven children in all: six boys and only one girl, my niece Kyrstin. As all seven played, the six boys were teaming up, pretending to fight off some terrible, imaginary monster.

Unexpectedly and rapidly, the nightmare exploded across Paris, in bullets, bomb blasts, blood and death. It was late Friday night in Paris when the chilling reports began to come in. The world was shocked as news began to spread of the horrific, deadly attacks. We pray for France. We grieve for the victims. And we ask: Why did this happen? What comes next? 

“Drug overdoses are the leading cause of injury deaths in the US, the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reported in its annual National Drug Threat Assessment (NDTA), which was released on Wednesday. The report highlights how heroin is an increasingly dangerous and popular drug in the US and how its use is increasingly linked to prescription drugs” (Business Insider, November 6, 2015).

“David Cameron will this week sign a landmark deal with China, thrusting the communist nation into the heart of Britain’s civil nuclear industry. Under the controversial accord, Beijing will buy a large minority stake in Britain’s first new atomic reactor in 20 years. The investment will help EDF Energy of France, which will lead the project, cover part of the mammoth £24bn cost. The Chinese are also expected to help bankroll a second EDF plant at Sizewell on the Suffolk coast.

Europe is struggling! Catalonia, in Spain, wants independence, which “could inspire others; threatening European integration” (Time, November 7, 2015). The migration crisis, according to the Foreign Minister of Luxembourg, Jean Asselborn, “could lead to the collapse of the European Union and even to war” (EU Observer, November 9, 2015).