Through Fire and Fear: A Reflection on Hope
Even as calamities mount, the heart of humanity still beats with hope and resilience. To my readers, now is the time to act with love and purpose.
By: J.A. Aleman
Since 2020 Americans have seen natural disasters and manmade chaos. Unfortunately, 2025 is no different, and while this may seem like a trend, we don’t really know exactly what is going to happen tomorrow.
Today is our chance to show the hope and love our hearts possess for one another.
2025 began with a deadly attack on the streets of New Orleans on New Years Day morning, when a pickup truck driven by a man flying an ISIS flag rammed and killed 15 people and injured 30 others. The man was shot and killed after a gunfight with police.
Just hours later a Cybertruck exploded just outside the doors of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. The man responsible was Matthew Livelsberger, a decorated army soldier who shot himself just before detonation, according to a report by Associated Press.
However, the news hasn’t ended there as there are major fires in LA county and fire fighters are struggling to contain them. As of Jan.16, there are over 12,000 homes and structures destroyed or damaged and 27 dead from the Palisades and Eaton fires alone. The fires have burned nearly 40,000 acres and have been ranked the costliest in U.S. history, according to the LA Times.
However, I’m not going to look at this as a sign of more horrible things to come. This isn’t about bad omens. Neither I nor any of us can just sit down, cross our hands and wait for the big one to occur. Still, I know that there will be people with doomsday mentalities, and I can’t really blame them since the last 5 years have been difficult with one tragedy happening after another.
2020 is a year many will not forget due to it being marked by many tragedies, starting with Australia suffering from wildfires. We won’t soon forget the worldwide pandemic that appeared in late 2019 and threw the world for a loop in March of 2020. Lastly, that same year I saw a nation gather around the idea of fighting racism when George Floyd’s life was taken due to excessive force by police officer Dereck Chauvin in May of 2020. Justice was served when Chauvin was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison, according to the Office of Public Affairs.
There were protests in the streets for months crying out for justice and though there was vandalism and non-peaceful demonstrations in some areas, Americans were unified to stop something horrible from happening again. We all have people we care for and hold dear in our hearts. This showed me that we are all Americans, no matter our skin color, and that we are united upon what’s true.
Even though the Covid-19 virus had the world in confusion and politics divided people, changes were made to police because people stood together when it came to acknowledging the value of a life no matter the circumstance.
Image by: iblynkd via Instagram
We’ve seen mass shootings increase since 2020, amounting to over 3,000 including 2025 numbers, according to the Gun Violence Archive. This question of what to do about gun violence in America hasn’t yet been answered. Every time I drop my children off at school, I pray for them and their classmates so that all of them make it home safe and sound. That is the reality all parents live with today.
Sadly, the following years didn’t lack societal issues when in January of 2021, many Trump supporters stormed the capital. The events of that day are still being investigated right now with new footage that has been released.
2022 brought a bit of hope for a peaceful year only to be shattered by Russia invading Ukraine on Feb. 24. Shortly thereafter, 2023 followed the trend of war with the Terrorist organization Hamas attacking Isreal on Oct. 7., causing another war to breakout between Palestine and Isreal. Once again, this led to protests from both sides of the war.
These are the reasons I have always personally hated politics. Anyone can justify their actions with words because words today can die a thousand deaths. As a journalist, when bad things happen, I do what I know how to do, I write. I make sure the facts of all issues I cover are highlighted and presented fairly and clearly, so my readership can see for themselves what is going on in the world around them.
In 2024 we saw a container ship crash into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, which led to a partial collapse, six fatalities and a temporary re-routing of trade ships. Later that year, we saw an assassination attempt on President Trump, which left firefighter Corey Comperatore shot dead while shielding his wife and daughter from the rifle rounds.
Again, politics and the politicizing of anything for the sake of winning and zealots are the cause of such tragedies. As a father, I honor Mr. Comperatore’s sacrifice because I would do the same. Still, that man’s life ended because people always talk in circles about gun violence and mental health without presenting any actual solution.
Soon after that, Hurricane Helene struck the southeastern U.S. which left 230 people dead and caused tens of billions of dollars of property damage. There were even reports on how the land itself has drastically changed.
We have seen a battle against racism, hatred of various groups and even wars between peoples and nations unfold before our eyes. I write this not because I want to dampen the spirit of my readers, but because I want to do precisely the opposite.
Look at everything the world has endured these past few years, not only America, but across the seas. Though some of us have lost loved ones and continue to feel their absence, we are still here to try and mend what’s been broken. We are trying to mend each other, to mend society.
If this past election has taught me anything, it’s that political views are fragile at best, and anything can be used for political gain on either side. These natural disasters and even the manmade disasters have taught me that I must look at my neighbors as people and as beings who I believe as a Christian are made in the image of God.
There has been much devastation and tragedy seen by the human race in recorded history. Sometimes all we can do is try to learn from what the people experiencing these events went through and support recovery efforts from afar. While we in the present are facing such hard times, we must choose to improve our surroundings by giving part of ourselves to our neighbors.
This means we cry with them, laugh with them, even sit in silence with them if need be. Then after the smoke clears, if we are able, we help to pick up the pieces for those who have been left with nothing.
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I could use this article to put blame on why LA county wasn’t prepared for such major fires and point out the negligence of leaders in California. I know that others in my field will contribute to this conversation. I want to encourage those who feel lost and alone to look forward and to have faith in the good of the world, despite the suffering we have seen and felt.
I don’t know what my readership believes, but I believe that God’s will does happen. Not in disasters, but in what happens after as people come together. Through the average person who is willing, I believe God works to rebuild people and civilization.
Peace doesn’t come if in our hearts we continue to hold hatred or prejudice against one another. Still, working together one day at a time to build a future where letting go of that is possible, is certainly worth the effort.
