Raw and Scattered

Raw and scattered pretty much describes my feelings regarding the bombing at the Boston Marathon yesterday. It really hasn't sunk in what happened. I don't really know what to say, but bear with me as I process through some of what I have seen, read, and heard over the past day.

What surprises me is that I don't have the raw anger that I felt after other tragedies such as 9/11, or Newtown, or similar unspeakable horrors. Perhaps I'm too tired to be angry. Too tired of these senseless things happening, too tired of feeling helpless, too tired of hate. There certainly is a lot of anger out there -- you can see it in the streets, on social media, or on television as people lash out at whoever they can, even though we don't know and may not know for a long time who it was that committed this atrocity or why.

What I do feel is sadness and pain. The unedited images of the injuries to those in Boston yesterday -- some race participants, others spectators or supporters -- are images that I will probably never forget. They are images of unimaginable injuries -- legs with all their flesh blown off until only a jagged remnant of a bone remains, scorched skin, faces numb with shock. What makes me sadder is that it appears from the placement and design of the bombs that this was exactly what was intended as the outcome -- to maim as much as to kill.

Maybe not knowing who is responsible for these evil acts is for the best. Maybe it will cause us to take a look at evil and hate itself. Maybe it will make us look at what leads one to these acts of unimaginable violence. Not knowing who is responsible prevents us from blaming a particular ethnicity or group or religion or political belief (although many still do). It makes us see that regardless of who is responsible, the act itself is still wrong, and hopefully teaches us that responding in kind will do nothing but foster more of the same type of actions.

Looking at those gruesome images from the bombing made me think of those who have been through wars and have seen these things before. When faced with such horror, one can have one of two reactions -- one can give into the violence, ratchet up their hate, and vow eternal vengeance; or one turn against the violence, increase their love, and work for peace. I am amazed at those that have viewed such carnage up close and still can love, can have hope, can have faith, and can work for peace and justice. I look at people like Chris Hedges who as a war correspondent has witnessed some of the most inhuman brutality one could ever witness, and still devotes his life to causes of peace through his journalism and activism and throughout maintains a deep religious faith. If more of us could aspire to that, the world would be a much better place.

It is said often by many that God is Love. If that is true, then the inverse is also true -- Love Is God. The only way we can respond as people of faith is to love more. The only way that we can aspire to be more like God is to love more. The only response to hate for the faithful is love.

Love more. It's all we have.