Fragile Marathon

I would like to start this blog entry by offering prayers to the victims who have perished or inured or affected in any ways by the Boston Marathon blast. All 3 deceased victims are young people with one of them only 8 years old. May their souls rest in peace! May their loved ones and friends be comforted and supported! May all the affected  and injured victims get the necessary support, love and help to overcome their fears, shock and worries to continue their lives with renewed hope!

I am going for my JP Morgan run at 5.30pm today. The beneficiaries for proceeds of this run will be the children with cleft lips and other facial deformities. For the run today, I will be carrying prayers for these children and one friend who is still undergoing chemotherapy for his cancer. Other than these groups of people, I will also carry the prayers for the victims who have perished, been injured or affected in any ways at the Boston Marathon. I have not trained for this run at all. This is my first competitive run unlike my past runs which are non competitive or only for fun. I did not pan for this run. In fact, I was approached by the running club at my organization to replace a runner for this run. In fact, my bib is still in her name. I joked with my captain that if there were to be blast for this event, nobody even knows I have perished. My colleagues heard me and went, 'Choy! (meaning touchwood)' Well, I agreed to this run without much thought. I am not sure how I can manage it as I have not really recovered from my respiratory problem. I do have concern about my health condition. But, I did have a sumptuous MacDonald breakfast to encourage myself for this run. I will not give up as my purpose is to offer my efforts and sweat and perseverance for this run as offering to God for the groups of people I have mentioned above. I believe I can do it. I am in it together with them through it all in my prayers. I do not care a damn thing about whether they appreciate or not or even know me. It does not matter. As long as they always carry hope in them and continue to use their talents and gifts for the good of others and grow to be more complete in God, I am happy. As long as they are happy, I am happy.

 What is my take for this Boston Marathon blast? Though I do not know anyone there, I should say I feel indignation and sadness at the same time for these victims. What has any marathon got to do with politics, hatred?  What are these culprits thinking for planning this? To prove that they are gods? I feel this is really a bully. They are just hurting the innocent without any defence. Does God ever hurt anyone? When people carry things to the extremes at the expense of others' well being or safety be it in the name of any gods or holiness, it will always result in wars, hurt and even death. These people's perception, attitudes and thoughts are warped. God is holy. Such acts have got no elements of holiness at all. How can they be carried out in the name of God? If God were to have such nature, I rather go to hell. The truth is that when people carry things to the extremes, they may have done it in the name of God or holiness and yet the fruits of such acts and words will always be destructive to mankind and cause death in any forms. When I saw the photo of the 8 year old boy who died during cheerleading for the runners during my daily news monitoring, I could not help it but be disturbed by his radiant smile. How could such innocent cheerful boy who meant well to be an encouragement to the others end up being blasted by such audacious violence which no words could describe the level of cruelty by these culprits? What is happening to this world? Does hatred really swallow one's conscience to such extent that the person becomes bestial with no control at all? Speechless....

I really hope that no such terrible incident will ever happen in any marathons. Marathons are healthy activities and for some, are for charitable causes. I hope such healthy activities for the body and soul will not turn into tragedies that people morn over the death of anyone. Will this deter me from any runs, especially the overseas ones in the future. I know God will intervene. From this blast, I also learn not to take for granted that your loved ones will always be there. Treasure everyone around me as I will never know who will leave me next. Carpe Diem!

With Love,
Elena