by The Collected Mutineer

It doesn’t feel very motivating to watch an iconic landmark succumb to ravenous flames.

The world-renowned Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris, noted for its history, architecture, and beauty, caught fire earlier today. This comes as a blow to people everywhere who admired the ancient structure as so much more than a religious site or a French motif. This was a building with a soul, felt by worshippers and visitors for the last eight centuries.

For the last several hours, I couldn’t look away from footage of the fire, even though it ate away at me. I felt despair, discouragement—that singularly crushing feeling when you remember that nothing lasts forever. Our proud human achievements give way to the elements, no matter what we do to prevent disaster.

Then came a glimmer of hope. A group of Parisians singing “Je vous salue Marie.”

It might not seem like much at first. But music has a way of healing, of restoring us, of motivating us to keep going. To rebuild. To find a silver lining despite the darkness of the storm.

No matter what you’re going through today, may the sound of people coming together in song lift your spirits. Your catastrophe, today’s struggle, might be the burning of this church, or it might be something far more personal that I will never know. Whatever it is, I hope that you will feel strength, resilience, and community in the face of sadness and adversity.