Numb

I was totally shocked at the bombing at the Boston Marathon yesterday. I have been a runner most of my adult life and one of my goals, if I were to be totally honest, would be to run in this great marathon. It requires that you have to meet certain times to qualify for the race. I had run a race a few years ago in San Diego where I would qualify because of my old age. So I could have envisioned myself crossing the finishing line around the 4-hour time frame just as the bombs were going off.

I can’t fathom the total horror that rushed across the crowd and runners as the explosion happened. I am aghast that an eight year old was killed and that many more younger kids were hurt because of this senseless act of terrorism. It is always a time for the community to step up, help and see people go above and beyond any normal sense of giving. I personally don’t like to watch someone who has been maimed. Yet, the anger and emotions that swell up in everyone end up screaming out WHY, WHY does this type of thing have to continue to happen?

Last week there was a shooting at another community college campus where a few were killed and the person responsible was killed also. We live in a day and age where violence has become commonplace. I know that most School Campuses are now paranoid about having some type of incident take place in their school. I can’t blame administrators that now want to have their schools on total lock downs and not allow anyone to come close to campus unless they have proof of identity.

Tonight I will lead a life skill group where we are going to talk about evil. We are going to look at one of the great quotes, “Evil triumphs when good people do nothing”. I like to talk about the fact that most people spend most of their lives being spectators watching someone else live out their lives to the fullest. It isn’t until something really evil happens that it can push and inspire us to be different. I can’t explain why someone would purposely plan to kill random people who haven’t done anything to them?

I know that most that have been affected by this horrible tragedy woke up this morning hoping that it was just a bad nightmare that would go away that no one was actually killed. Yet, the reality is that three have lost their lives and over 100 plus have been hurt in ways that time won’t heal. So the WHY question still comes back to the behavior choices of some people to act out their evil side in taking the lives of innocent people.

My hope tonight as we talk about bad stuff happening is to realize that we can impact the world around us by choosing to actively be engaged by becoming active participants in the lives of those around us. The challenge is that it is much easier to be a couch potato or video junky that becomes out of touch with the real world around. Yes I could give a theological explanation of why bad things happen, i.e. man is sinful and has an inner core that is capable of evil. The hope is that the great good that God has instilled in all of us will win out and see us be the one to run to help someone and not be the one that waits for someone else to help.