Rambling thoughts on current events

I have a vague memory of October 23, 1983. I remember being in my grandmother's apartment in Baltimore and watching the TV news. The US Marine barracks in Beirut had been hit by a suicide bomber and over 200 marines had been killed.
The memory isn't clear: I was only 9, but I'm certain that I was in Baltimore when it happened. Having the TV on in my grandmother's house was unusual, and the family gathered around it watching the news was also shocking. It was a frightening moment, even if I didn't understand it.
This memory always comes back to me when I'm struck by the violence and enormity of recent events. I feel like that faint memory was an introduction to some of the awfulness of the world. These days, events like that seem almost commonplace. Every day, I wake up to stories of more death and bombs. Then, a few positive developments will come that seem to level off some of the violence until days later, those developments are destroyed. It would be like sitting in front of that television every day.
That memory, of course, has more direct ties to current events. The Americans went into Beirut in 1983, along with a multi-national force, to assist in the removal of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and provide stability and security to the Lebanese government.
Now, violence erupts in Lebanon again between the Hezbollah organization and Israel. Threats of war from both countries are shouted. Calls for international intervention are once again sounded as we all wait and read the news with fear. .
What is really going to happen? Of course, we don't know. Opinions blaming fault and suggesting action abound in the newspapers. The bombings and the casualties continue to mount. Rockets and missiles hit Haifa and Beirut. With each one, the hope for peace that most everyone says they want moves further away.
I'm a hopeful person. I tend to believe that awful things in the world eventually get settled. I'm also fortunate: I've lived in very peaceful places all of my life. I've never had to fight for a right to exist, or for representation or speech, or even just for food. Deep down, I believe we will have a cease fire and Israel will just be in the tense state it's always been in. But what if things escalate? It's a question I don't want to face the answer to.
So now we sit back and wait. We live our lives and just stay awake and enjoy the life we've been given. Every once in a while though, we'll be sitting in front of that TV, holding our breaths, and watching.