How do Norwegians respond to tragedy?

Yesterday 40,000 Norwegians gathered in the pouring rain and chilling wind outside the Oslo City Courthouse. Inside, Anders Behring Breivik was on trial for the murder of 69 people. Outside the people crowded together holding roses and singing Pete Seeger’s “My Rainbow Race”, translated into Norwegian as “Children of the Rainbow”.

See the article and video here: http://www.newsinenglish.no/2012/04/26/norwegians-pull-together-again/

Scroll to the bottom to see the video and, unless your Norwegian is very good, be sure to watch until they switch to English.

This is a picture of people reaching out for beauty, goodness, gentleness, truth, and light in the face of desperate darkness. We would do well to model ourselves after these Norwegians.

Here are Pete Seeger’s original lyrics:

Children of the Rainbow (Norwegian title)
My Rainbow Race (original, English)
by Pete Seeger

One blue sky above us
One ocean lapping all our shore
One earth so green and round
Who could ask for more
And because I love you
I’ll give it one more try
To show my rainbow race
It’s too soon to die.

Some folks want to be like an ostrich,
Bury their heads in the sand.
Some hope that plastic dreams
Can unclench all those greedy hands.
Some hope to take the easy way:
Poisons, bombs. They think we need ‘em.
Don’t you know you can’t kill all the unbelievers?
There’s no shortcut to freedom.

Go tell, go tell all the little children.
Tell all the mothers and fathers too.
Now’s our last chance to learn to share
What’s been given to me and you.