Ursula Franklin said of days after awful events, “Wouldn’t it be nice if a day of mourning for what happened… was a day of quiet?”

What about shutting up for the day? Be quiet. Let people think. Communicate the essential. The weather, okay. The traffic, okay. And then have a day of quiet. I don’t think more talk gets us anywhere… So number one, shut up the trivia; number two, look at your resources. Ask, maybe, what’s life all about? […] Give it a bit of quiet. Look at history. Who has said that all people matter equally and nobody matters more than others? Most traditions. Most religions. Don’t drown it out.

Related reading: Silence as a space for something new to happen