Such Profound Sadness I Feel Today

Yesterday was the Boston Marathon, and as you likely know by now, it was a day to remember, but not for good reasons. A few moments ago I saw a picture of a 7 year old boy who was killed while waiting for his father at the finish line. I think I heard his mother and sister were there, too, but "only" wounded.

I cannot imagine the devastation this family must feel, and quite frankly, who would want to? Who would want to feel the pain of something - especially something that would seem to be avoidable?

But what isn't avoidable is the pain we feel for another who has been hurt. I can't help but think that is what makes us human. It is our ability to feel what another might. But it would seem that there are things that happen that put aside that for what someone might deem a "greater" reason or cause. I would like to think that if the person or persons who did what they did yesterday thought about what it would be like if it was someone they knew and cared about that would be wounded, maimed, killed, would they have taken the steps they did?

It is only a guess, but I would think there are no words that can truly console a person who has been affected by a tragedy of this magnitude. And yet, we as people, seek consolation. We are uncomfortable with discomfort. We are uncomfortable with pain. We are uncomfortable with disappointment.

And yet these things which are very much a part of life will likely never go away. We can't legislate it away. We can't wish it away. We can't control it away. The only thing we can do is find a way to "dance" with it. The only thing we can do is find our own way to be in the midst of the things that cause us pain and discomfort.

And what that means may vary from person to person. Many people who become advocates of something have returned, like a Phoenix, from the ashes of an experience that caused them pain and had the potential to kill them, if not literally - in spirit.

Some say if an illness is not dealt with at a "cause level," it is not going to be treated properly. Treating the symptoms often causes more problems. I can't help but wonder if we are becoming so reactive to things that we are interacting more with the symptoms of a problem, rather than the cause itself.

We could say we know the issues, and THAT is what is causing the problem. But what if there is a deeper level that is missed by what we think we know?

People talk about "World Peace." The idea of it sounds wonderful, doesn't it? But how can the world be a peace when the individuals in it are not?

You will deal with it however you do. And there may be darkness before the dawn. It is cliche to be sure, but being someone who has come through some incredible darkness, who wondered if I would ever see the light again, I believe that there can be light if you just go far enough. Sometimes we may not get that opportunity, but there is no way to know whether or not it is there unless we...just...keep... going and doing the best we can with our given circumstances.

Sending a hug to anyone who wants or needs one.
Feel free to send one back.