I wrote this piece a few days after last year’s Boston Marathon bombings.  It has been a year.  The NYT has a piece about the remaining suspect (Suspect #1) on their front page today.  Suspect #2 was killed during the manhunt last year and has been nicknamed, “Speedbump” by the local media as his death was caused by his brother (suspect #1) running him over.

It felt good to read my post again this morning.  Maybe it will feel good to you as well.

Terror works when the Good change their life in a negative way because of the Evil.  The events of the Boston Marathon are in hyper-focus in today’s 24/7 news cycle.  It does not matter if this event turns out to be a “one of” event executed by a society misfit, or part of a global insurrection planned by a group with a larger message to the planet.  Taking a translation from Latin, “Terror” means “great fear” which the Boston Marathon incident has caused.

But Terror only wins when it effects people negatively.  For me, this Terror incident makes me feel more love; for my family, for those who have been killed and seriously wounded, for those families directly effected by the blasts.  It makes me sad for the loners who do not comfortably fit into modern society’s norms and who are outcast.  It makes me want to do more for others.

It re-enforces a core belief of mine that in the end, we are all judged by our Creator (pick the God of your choosing) by some simple questions; Were we good to others?  Did we benefit society?  Or were we a purposeful drain on society?  Those who wage Terror, for whatever justification they choose, do not pass these simple questions.

There is horrible Terror that happens everyday in places like Afghanistan and Iraq, Syria and parts of Africa.  Thankfully Terror happens rarely where I live in the US.   Sure the Evil will have their days and the Good will temporarily have to change their lives to accommodate the Evil and their actions.  But Evil and Terror can never win in the long run.  Where one or a group of Evil create Terror, many more Good come to assist those effected by Terror and work to resolve issues.  If Terror were truly effective, many Good would be turned into Evil.  But that’s not the case.  Mankind is innately Good.

Terror loses again.

“Love is love’s reward” – John Dryden