Thursday, July 14, 2005

London Bombings

There really is little you can say about the events of last thursday, to me it seemed no real surprise sadly, except the timing. Since 9/11 it has surely been a case of when not 'if' but 'when', yet it was something you hoped against hope would never happen.

I'm lucky, so far I have known no-one caught up in what happened but in situations like this your mind instantly goes to what could have been, there (at that tube station, on that bus) but for the grace of God.....it's the nearest we can get to empathy.

I heard the former Bishop of Southwark talking on Radio 2 and quoting Martin Luther King who said "Right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant". Obviously King's struggle was something else entirely but the words do seem to apply to this situation too, as people pulled together, carried on commuting, left flowers, held a silence, were united in what is good and what is true about life and it's value.

I cannot believe how amazing the police work has been, in less than a week they have so many details and the emergency services on the day were just incredible too. The religious leaders have been strong and timely in their comments and even the Prime Minister did a good job of balancing national tragedy with international tragedy and G8.... it does seem that right, temporarily defeated, IS stronger than evil triumphant. I pray it's so.

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