As a marathon runner I watched in horror as the news of two explosions near the finish line of the Boston Marathon broke last night. This morning I woke to the news that an 8 year old boy was one of three people killed in the explosion. He was waiting to see his dad cross the finish line.
I can’t begin to understand why this happened.
I can’t fathom why anyone would do this to people who were gathered to watch an event which celebrates the capacity of humanity for good.
It was a vile, cowardly act.
Today the news is all about what happened in Boston and my prayers are with those affected.
But my prayers are also with those elsewhere.
Yesterday at least 31 people were killed and hundreds hurt in a series of explosions across Iraq.
That hasn’t been on the tv news today. There have been no interviews with people driving to work who saw the car bombs explode, no further reports of casualties, no speculation about whether London should close its roads as a result of the events in Iraq at the top of every news bulletin.
These bombings in Iraq were not of military targets. They were cowardly attacks on people travelling to work and on a check point at the airport.
These events lead me to wonder about the value of life. More specifically I wonder why we value the lives of some people more than others?
Because we do.
So, today my prayers are with all those whose lives were devastated by bombs yesterday… in Boston, Nasariyah, Kirkuk and Baghdad.