A Sad Day

When our alarm went off this morning I did the normal routine...stumble...drink coffee...brush teeth...drink coffee... Finally we flipped on the radio and heard something about London. We killed the radio and flipped on CNN to see about the bombings in London.

The same, "sick to my stomach" feeling began to twist my insides. "Again...not again..."

It was a sad day.

Sad because of what happened, and sad because of what it means.

It reminds us again that we are all vulnerable. Things and places that we counted on as "safe" are not. We used to know we were safe. Now that knowledge is recategorized as an item of faith. We can't know that we're safe.

We knew this four years ago. Today we were reminded again.

It is too much a cliche to say "I don't understand how someone could do this." I do understand. I understand that this is the only way some people feel that they can fight back. It is not justified or justifiable. It just is what it is.

The "War on Terrorism" is not a normal war. There are no rules. There is no "civility." It even goes a step beyond guerilla war. It attacks non-combatants. It is unconventional.

It must be defeated unconventionally.

So far, conventional methods, them military, seems ineffective. It reminds me of the image of grabbing a handful of sand and squeezing. The tighter we squeeze, the more seeps through our fingers.

I don't know how to defeat this unconventionally. But I don't think we're searching for the answer yet.

In the meantime, I'll pray.