Photo Courtesy of Christy Thomas
Boston Marathon Bombing
A bomb explodes at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15.
Evil defies reason. Reasonable people do not blow up innocent humans. Reasonable people do not plant bombs that kill, maim and destroy. Reasonable people may make lots of stupid mistakes, may indeed bring harm to others, but they still don’t set out to rip limbs off people who have come out to relax, play, show the results of years of hard work and celebrate a great tradition.
Evil does these things.
Evil destroys innocence.
Evil loves fear and terror.
Evil cannot be explained or understood.
And we never know when we are going to come face to face with evil. There are no preparations adequate to protect from this kind of evil. We can offer some fairly effective protections from reasonable people when they make their stupid mistakes (like mixing texting and driving or alcohol and loaded handguns–not evil, just stupid–and very destructive). But the craftiness of someone who has crossed over into the realm of evil will defy all efforts to prepare for it.
What do we do? One thing I know: we cannot fight evil with evil. Such response simply exacerbates and accelerates the power of evil.
Another thing I know: Good will eventually win because God will prevail.
But for now, for now . . . we sit in sorrow and anguish.
The Rev. Christy Thomas is pastor of First United Methodist Church in Krum, Texas, north of Dallas.