Winning Words 4/16/13
“Why couldn’t Pheidippides have died here?”  (Frank Shorter)  Runner Shorter used these words in tribute to the Boston Marathon and its tie to the first Marathon run when P died after announcing the end of the Greek/Persian War.  Joy mixed with tragedy.  Life is like that.  It was like that yesterday in Boston.  The race has ended, but the War of Terror continues…for how long.  “The answer is blowin’ in the wind.”    ;-)  Jack

FROM WALMART REV:  Sad but so true...will be interesting to see how our nation responds in comparison to 911, if this develops into being more that the Oklahoma bombing...I'm sure a very trying time for our President. 0:-(////JACK:  Uncertainty is a terrible burden to bear for anyone.  Faith helps.

 FROM RI IN BOSTON:  Boston is shrouded in gloom and disbelief.  Its long-established tradition hosting the Boston Marathon as an event of exuberance and high spirits will from now on come under the shadow yesterday's tragedy.   A writer for The Boston Globe described it well: "Thousands of spectators had lined the route to celebrate the greatness of the human spirit. Instead they were plunged into the depths of human depravity." ////JACK:  There's a difference between an accident and a planned attack.  Injuries and deaths happen in both instances,  The "terrorist" (whether an individual or a group) has a broader goal in mind.  Depravity is a fitting word.

 FROM LH IN MICHIGAN:  Our thoughts and prayers are with you, Boston.////JACK:  "Oh, the in-humanity!"

 FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  Terror will continue until the end of time.  Unfortunately, with free-will comes terror.  However, we will all triumph in the end because joy comes in the morning.  Watching all of the people who ran to help, not knowing the person they were saving, not knowing if another bomb would go off, not knowing the consequences of the actions, but helping none-the-less.  That is how people triumph, with the helping hand of the Holy Spirit!  We go on!////JACK:  Terror and fear seem to be synonymous.  There are many references to "fear" in the Bible.  The unknowns make for an unsettled life.  The word, faith, describes a way of facing fear.  It can be a religious faith or a common faith (belief).

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  INDEED. MY G.DAUGHTER, MOTHER OF 3 BOYS AND WIFE OF A STATE POLICEMAN, IS RUNNING THE MARATHON IN CHAMPAIGN/URBANA THE LAST WEEKEND IN APRIL. ONE WONDERS IF THESE VENUES ARE BEING SINGLED OUT, OR WHAT?/!  THERE ARE ALWAYS 100'S OF RUNNERS AND SPECTATORS.... MAKES ONE SAD THAT THESE TERRIBLE, VIOLENT, ACTS ARE HAPPENING ALL OVER THE WORLD...NO ONE IS IMMUNE TO THE DANGER, IT SEEMS. GOD BE WITH US ALL, AND TODAY ESPECIALLY WITH THOSE FAMILIES GRIEVING OVER LOST AND MAIMED LOVED ONES!!  ////JACK:  The ultimate goal of the terrorist is to cause people to live in fear.  FDR, in his first inaugural address said, "We have nothing to fear, but fear itself."

 FROM CS IN MICHIGAN:  My granddaughter lives in Boston and was at the marathon. She is safe but shaken. Please let us pray for all the traumatized people.////JACK:  Tragedy is always magnified when those we love are in the mix.  I remember when the tornado came through West Bloomfield several years ago.  It was over an hour before we were able to contact two of our children who were in the area.  Everything was blocked off.  While prayer is not strange to us, it becomes particularly intense when there is the unknown.

 FROM MAWKEYE GEORGE:  Only God knows.////JACK:  God knows a lot of stuff that we don't know.