While at first, the reports came out saying the terror in Boston today may have been related to some sort of electrical explosion, I did not believe it. For those of us who live or have lived in New York, Mumbai, London, Madrid, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv (or any city in Israel), Baghdad (or any city in Iraq) or Kabul (or any city in Afghanistan) etc. the news was not necessary. We know terror exists. We have felt its ugly rotten shattering affects.
My 9/11 experience was almost mundane compared to most. No need for all the specifics. I was a couple of miles from the terror. My wife (fiancé at the time) and I walked back from Midtown Manhattan to the neighborhood we lived in, the Upper West Side. The streets were teeming. Everyone simply wanted to be home – hoping to find safety in their familiar surroundings. As my wife and I walked, every tall building felt like a potential landmine. To say it was a tense walk home is an understatement.
On that beautiful September day and those immediately following, I experienced a profound change. A naiveté and sense of ease were gone. There was a war a going on and though I never signed up, or had a gun, or was part of a battalion, I was on the battlefield. I will forever see the world differently.
There is evil in the world. That evil needs to be rooted out. We may not always be comfortable with how it is done, and it may not always be handled how we would prefer. Yet, it must be handled by any means necessary and those who do the work should be appreciated.
There are three people dead so far, including an 8 year boy. There are 138 people injured. Yet, there is a whole city that is affected and many more. I mourn those who are lost. I pray for the families who feel a personal loss. On this beautiful April day, many more people have also lost their innocence. I am deeply sorry that they have joined this uneasy fraternity.