It's simple and timeless: running. The Boston Marathon is a test of legs and lungs and honest effort.
It's where statements are made in the common language of sport, which has no word for ideology. And It's where the flags of the world stand side by side, hinting at what humanity itself might be capable of doing.
Until that moment when we see what else humanity is capable of doing.
For all that is still unknown, there is little doubt Monday’s bombings that brought chaos and violence were intended.
There is little doubt that, when so many were drawn to the city by honourable competition, someone came to bring hate and pain.
And like red blood on a white shirt, the crime is all the more shocking because it defiles something pristine.
As the flags that stood together are cast aside in a scramble to reach the injured and dying, another search begins into the darkness where things like this are born.
While these moments are a terrible reminder of what makes us vulnerable, the harm is greater if we forget what makes us strong.
Because even if what is best in the human heart does not always triumph over what is worst, it's still the only thing that can.
