Boston : April 15th, 2013

4/15

Why do these explosions at the Boston Marathon finish lone disturb me so? I’ve lived through 9-11. Newtown, Columbine, Colorado, greater body counts. Maybe it was looking at the clock, the finish time, just beyond 4 hours. In another life, when I ran the Boston Marathon, that was about my finish time. Middle of the pack. Average joes and janes, yous and mes. Whoever did this planned it out carefully for the peak time of finishers. Not elite runners. Just normal people, their families and friends. And planned to go off close to the ground, cutting off legs, destroying dreams. Those bombs were targeting me. 

Funny what you notice, think about. Even as the explosion goes off, runners continue to cross the finish line even as others drop. I see one man pump his fist in victory as he crosses. Maybe it’s just that zone feeling I remember, being in this focused place of near exhaustion, just focusing on the finish line. Some thought it was celebratory cannons. Still, strange....

And I think what new invasions of civil liberties will we now be forced to live with? Every time I go through airport security, I ponder how one crazy man with a shoe bomb has affected the lives of millions. That’s the thing about terrorism, it works. It’s extremely cost effective. 

And who did it? Does it even matter? Of course a Saudi was picked up first. But he is not considered to be a suspect. I keep thinking Tax day? Patriot’s Day? Some misguided domestic right wing fanatic maybe? 

So it’s compassion, annoyance, anger I feel. Not fear. Other places in the world, London, Israel, Spain....this is or has been common occurrence. Life goes on. We are  too innocent.... safety, security, a matter of privilege. Life goes on....

As always, where is God? In those who immediately, with no regard for their own lives, jumped fences to bandage and tend to the wounded. Who  without official instructions self-organized triage and skillful coordination of medical resources. The capacity of normal people to not panic and immediately go to work continues to impress me. God is in the human hands and hearts that reach out, stop the bleeding, care for the wounded.....

Life goes on....