Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Responding to Boston--It's a Marathon

My heart has been full this week after hearing of the bombings at the Boston marathon.  I’ve run two marathons myself, so I can appreciate how hard it must have been for folks finishing 26 miles of running to suddenly run for their life.
 
I received an E-mail today that contained some powerful words from a blog written by Steve Garnaas-Holmes at unfoldinglight.net 
 
"People say, “Be strong.” We will, yes, we will. But the world does not need strength. What the world needs is kindness. The world needs people who have the courage to be gentle, even when those around them are full of rage and despair and violence, who refuse to join the world’s bitterness. The world needs people who choose love over fear. That’s the only thing that will actually change the world.
 
It’s not easy. Love is not quick, and does not produce immediate results. It’s a marathon. It takes dedication and training and a lot of commitment. It’s not for the faint-hearted. As Gandhi said, if you are too cowardly to be nonviolent, by all means take up arms to fight for justice. Love takes guts. It takes faith, confidence that a greater love is at work even when we cannot see it. And it takes patience, like a marathon — the willingness to go the distance, to keep at it when your body cries, “Quit!,” when your mind thinks of better things to do, when pain and weariness make you want to give up —it takes guts to keep going anyway. The Via Dolorsa is the toughest race. To share in the world’s pain and sadness, and still keep up hope and love — that is the world’s oldest marathon. The good news that we do not run alone. Nor do we run on our own energy: we are moved by the desire of God for the healing of the world."
 
Love does take guts.  Would you take a moment to pray for everyone willing to run that marathon journey.

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