Crazy (broken) World
I am saddened by the events that unfolded on Monday at the Boston Marathon. I am sad that we live in a world of unstable fools who find this behavior acceptable. I am sad for the folks who will remember the race not as a badge of celebration for defeating a challenging course but as a memory of sheer terror. This is however not a black mark on our courage and pride. It is a chance to stand tall and be brave.
We live in a crazy (broken) world. Every time we turn on the news in every city across the nation there are instances of murder and mayhem. Most of the time it is just local and isolated. It doesn't matter where you go or how big or small your town or community, it is happening everywhere. And yet for most of us we continue in our routines, our daily lives and we go to school, events, theaters, shopping, races and work. We take vacations and travel by car, train, plane or boat. We are brave even without thinking about being brave. Because honestly every time we set foot outside our door we are at risk of some terrible event happening. Each and every one of us can be just as unfortunate as the folks who ran and watched yesterday. And that is terror.
We can not live in fear of that isolated incident. We can not fear the worst in every situation. We can not teach our children to be afraid to go to school or the park or the mall. We have to pray that we will be safe even when we fear we may not.
We can all pretend that we might notice something or someone out of the ordinary in our neighborhood or on the street or when we are shopping. Reality is (at least for me) that although I am observant, I am often wrangling a nearly 4 year old, I am tired and I am not paying much attention to what is beyond my immediate surrounding. I pretend I live in a world where my child is safe to play in the front yard, where I can leave my car unlocked while I run in the store, that I can cross a finish line and not be terrorized. But we don't. We live in a world of broken people, broken dreams and harsh realities.
But today I have a race shirt on. I wrote 4:09 on the sleeve. I sent my son to school. I will tie on my running shoes later and I will go run 4 miles. We can not be defeated by the act of insanity. We can not be afraid to trust our fellow humans. We must fight on. Ye,s we may take a concealed carry class or learn martial arts. We may teach our children to not talk or go near people we don't know. We may walk through the next few weeks more vigilant than the last few but we will continue to do what we do. We are brave. We stand tall. We honor those that fight for our freedom. And we honor those racers.... the town of Boston... and we all move on together.
We live in a crazy (broken) world. Every time we turn on the news in every city across the nation there are instances of murder and mayhem. Most of the time it is just local and isolated. It doesn't matter where you go or how big or small your town or community, it is happening everywhere. And yet for most of us we continue in our routines, our daily lives and we go to school, events, theaters, shopping, races and work. We take vacations and travel by car, train, plane or boat. We are brave even without thinking about being brave. Because honestly every time we set foot outside our door we are at risk of some terrible event happening. Each and every one of us can be just as unfortunate as the folks who ran and watched yesterday. And that is terror.
We can not live in fear of that isolated incident. We can not fear the worst in every situation. We can not teach our children to be afraid to go to school or the park or the mall. We have to pray that we will be safe even when we fear we may not.
We can all pretend that we might notice something or someone out of the ordinary in our neighborhood or on the street or when we are shopping. Reality is (at least for me) that although I am observant, I am often wrangling a nearly 4 year old, I am tired and I am not paying much attention to what is beyond my immediate surrounding. I pretend I live in a world where my child is safe to play in the front yard, where I can leave my car unlocked while I run in the store, that I can cross a finish line and not be terrorized. But we don't. We live in a world of broken people, broken dreams and harsh realities.
But today I have a race shirt on. I wrote 4:09 on the sleeve. I sent my son to school. I will tie on my running shoes later and I will go run 4 miles. We can not be defeated by the act of insanity. We can not be afraid to trust our fellow humans. We must fight on. Ye,s we may take a concealed carry class or learn martial arts. We may teach our children to not talk or go near people we don't know. We may walk through the next few weeks more vigilant than the last few but we will continue to do what we do. We are brave. We stand tall. We honor those that fight for our freedom. And we honor those racers.... the town of Boston... and we all move on together.
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