Another dark day has come to the City of Light and our hearts are broken. Those who have visited Paris and experienced it as a place of love share in the grief, though what we are feeling cannot come close to what those who call this glorious city home must be going through.

Numerous Parisians responded to these inhumane acts of terror by amplifying their own humanity: the hashtag #PorteOuverte spread throughout social media as Parisians opened their homes to those who needed shelter, while taxi drivers turned off their meters to bring people home safely. In the study of terrorism, it is said that terror is the weapon of the weak. Those who sow terror do so to force us to believe that the world we live in is one of infinite pain and tragedy. While pain and tragedy certainly exist, the chosen response of so many Parisians in the wake of this tragedy show that there is far more kindness, benevolence and humanity in the world we live in. When we are hit hard, we feel compelled to hit back and multiply the pain already inflicted. While justice must be sought, we must take care not to let our humanity get overtaken in the process.