post the seventy-fifth, 2013

i guess you've heard by now that two bombs detonated at the finish line of yesterday's boston marathon, injuring at least 120 people and killing 3, including an 8 year old boy who'd just run out to hug his marathoning dad and run back to be with his mom and sister. life's a matter of split seconds and there-but-for-the-grace moments.

random destruction pulls away the veil of civilisation and leaves the raw questions. is nothing sacred? how could this happen? how can we prevent things like this? why me? why not me? what if...?

is nothing sacred? yes, nothing is sacred. no place, person, or event is held in universal esteem by all mankind. this is nothing new -- in whatever version of history and pre-history you believe, the stories of human infighting are legion. we are callused. we see violence every day in our neighborhoods and in our newscasts, and the inundation immunizes us. yet, when violence hits something WE hold sacred, we react as if this is the first violent act ever. don't get me wrong -- i'm not hating on that reaction. if we were to have that sort of visceral response to all violence, we would truly melt to a heap on the ground. it's not humanly possible to feel so deeply with every account. but -- what binds us together against all violence is that we have all experienced violation. nothing is sacred to everyone, but everything is sacred to someone.

how could this happen? the better question is, how could this not happen. i would posit that it's not amazing that violent acts occur -- what's amazing is that they do not occur more often. the world's population is numerous, jealous, envious, and polarized. acts of violence are treated to a condemnation celebration, an outpouring of attention indirectly proportional to our stated satisfaction with the course of events. we are drawn to watch that which we hate, fueling the maniac fire.

how can we prevent things like this? we cannot. not that i'd advocate giving up the fight. it's valuable to examine how we practice safety and it's important to do things that preserve life, but we cannot prevent evil. there's a finer line between diligence and paralysis than is immediately apparent. we don't conquer evil by preventing it. we conquer evil by living in the face of it.

why me? why not me? what if...? searching for The Big Answers is as much a part of human nature as is violence. we tend to shut down this quest because it's so often fruitless, but focusing on (lack of) distinct answers, we overlook the innate value of the act of questioning. asking the why's of life inevitably leads us out of the trees so that we can see the forest. empathy, compassion, appreciation of other points of view, recognition of other groups with other beliefs doing other things with their lives -- all these come from asking why. there's an excellent chance we will never learn the specific reason for a particular event at a precise time, but there's an equal chance that questioning why will gain us a general understanding that will help us better cope with the singular events.

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the bombing in boston is terrible and inexplicable and maddening and saddening and terrifying. but, like i said, life's a matter of split seconds and there-but-for-the-grace moments. we have to deal in the way that works for each of us, and the way that works for me is to carpe the hell out of every fucking diem in my allotment.

i hope you find what works for you.