"MAN'S INHUMANITY TO MAN": TRAGEDY AT THE BOSTON MARATHON

We expect to be safe.

We expect to be safe walking down the street.

We expect to be safe going to school.

We expect to be safe going to a movie theatre.

We expect to be safe getting on an airplane.

We expect to be safe going to a sporting event.

And people expected to be safe going to cheer-on the major accomplishments of their loved one's at an event that is truly about the triumph of the human spirit -- the Boston Marathon.

Yesterday we unfortunately were starkly reminded that crazed individuals or groups with some radical agenda will stop at nothing to kill and maim the innocent, to take joy and turn it into despair, to take meaningful lives and snuff them out, to take a sense of security and create a world of fear. 

People start to talk about the evil that is lurking in our society. They start looking at others, with suspicion, wondering whether they are potentially criminals or terrorists. They start staying at home and not traveling or going to events because they are afraid that they may be collateral damage to some terrorist or crazies extreme agenda.

And that is when evil wins.

We can easily begin to believe that a significant amount of the population is evil, and that potential for mayhem exists in many. Yet the opposite is the truth. Most people around the globe are decent, honest and hard-working, who today are as appalled at yesterday's events, just like you and me. But we never know of these people, because they live ordinary, unexceptional, and "good" lives. 

When the bombs went off in Boston yesterday, amongst the fear and tragedy, were also many acts of human kindness and heroism. As many people ran away, as many ran towards the injured to offer their assistance and comfort in the face of potential grave danger to themselves. Yet what is reported is the evil aspects of this event, not the altruism of the "good."

There will always be tyrants, crazies and extremists. They are present throughout history and will continue to be part of the everyday fabric of our world. 

A few days ago I wrote about one poignant painting on the East-side gallery of the Berlin Wall, Small People, Small Places and Small Things that Can Alter the World.

I ask that you today keep the victims of the most recent bombing in your thoughts. But don't let fear embrace your soul. Don't believe that the world has gone to hell and that the world is filled with much evil.

You are one of the "Small People in a Small Place doing Small Things that Can Alter the World." Keep doing them!