NOTRE DAME FIRE: HAS GOD DEPARTED FROM FRANCE?

ICHEOKU says it is incredible but true that a church does not ordinarily catch fire and get destroyed so easily, except it is an act of God; an angry God who, tired of the iniquities of the people, who have forsaken him, decided to just walk away and leave the people  to their own devices. The symbolism of the fire occurring in the holiest week in Christendom, the Holy Week leading up to Easter, is also very significant and should not be lost on anyone. So, did Parisians annoy God that God couldn't take it anymore; tired of the people who no longer worship him and who have abandoned the church as now a mere historical relic, only fit for the tourists feet, as non believers and other religions have now taken over France or at least threatening to do so. 

It was a sorry sight indeed watching the 900 year old architectural masterpiece, a pure work of art, dedicated as a place of worship and in honor of the Almighty God, by people who lived many centuries ago, burn; turning into cinders the Gothic architectural pieces that evidenced the craftsmanship and dexterity of the people of the ancient civilization who meticulously assembled the pieces together; a kind of mastery work which is not seen nor so easily replicated today. It was painful, especially at the helplessness and lack of a magical wand to just wish the fire to quench immediately and before wrecking the havoc witnessed. It is also regrettable that there was no Fire Brigade station within the Island vicinity of the church that it took longer to get to the fire from across the narrow bridges leading into the island location of the church.

Our Lady of Paris Cathedral in Paris was one of a kind, a bequeath from the past to the present by many generations long ago gone. A resplendent work of art that still marvels many today, on how those who walked the land of France nine centuries ago were able to  pull it off. A work that took 200 years to complete and which has survived so many tribulations, including two world wars; only to be submitted by a magical fire whose origin is yet to be determined. The world watched in awe as its iconic tower surrendered to the licking flames and tumbled over, collapsing down in a pile of ashy residue, in a manner so closely resembling America's 9/11 Twin Towers, except that nobody knows if it was an act of Islamic arson terrorism; at least not yet. Hopefully the fire investigators will get to the root cause of the fire and reassure the world, especially those who call Paris home, that they are not once again under the hammer of radical Islamists terrorism. 

ICHEOKU says would rather it was an accident or even an act of God; as the Islamist terrorism angle will be such a hard nut to swallow, especially after the Bataclan Nightclub massacre and Charlie Hebdo shooting, as Paris cannot continuously be submitted by these anarchists.  Also the Yellow Jackets could not have possibly pulled this off and if they did, they deserve to be treated as terrorists and banned from any further protests on the streets of France; and if they do, they should be summarily put down. No decent human being would and should tolerate any deliberate act that ruined the beautiful Cathedral in Paris, reputed to house the very Crown of Thorns which our Lord Jesus wore on the Calvary as well as a piece of the exact Cross on which he was crucified. The only way everybody will move on, assuming there will be anything like actually moving on from the fire, is for it to be an accidental fire and at worse, an act of God, period.

ICHEOKU says some critics are pointing fingers on the inadequate fire fighting tools of the Fire Brigade of Paris which they say exacerbated the destruction, arguing that had the fire been aggressively attacked at its infancy, it would have been contained without wrecking the havoc recorded. They said that the Fire ladder was not long enough to reach vital points during the combat and that their hoses were also not strong enough to pull enough water to combat the fire; leaving people wondering if France has seen its best days behind it and is now just simply trudging on. ICHEOKU says will wait the investigation to be completed before joining issues with this school of thought, either for or against.

What a tragedy of a monumental proportion that a 900 year old edifice was erased in a blaze. A Gothic work of wonder from the medieval era gone with the fire. ICHEOKU says regardless of how closely it is rebuilt, it can never be the same as the hands that original put the masterpiece together are nine centuries old and gone forever, their touch permanently erased from the work. Whatever is rebuilt will but be an imitation of the original, a knockoff of some sort; and nothing compares nor beats an original. It was a generational loss; a connection with the ancient gone forever; a chain of connectivity with the past and the present permanently broken. What would the great Kings of France, who envisioned and put the cathedral together in honor and glory of God; as well as the thousands of artisans who labored to mission accomplish the dream say or do, watching their labor go up in flames. The Hunchback of Notre Dame also must be grieving, watching the edifice that provided it a hiding abode and solace from the public preying eyes destroyed. It is SAD. ICHEOKU says Parisians, take heart.