PERSONAL EMPATHY

Today's blog was supposed to contain a description of my rehab since my arthroscopic surgery which was performed on Thursday. My one mile leg-strengthening walk, however, just doesn't seem so important today.

Last night, another group of extremists, possessing an agenda no rational human being has the ability to grasp, engaged another senseless killing spree in Paris, France.

They call it terrorism, and it is. Gutless cowards murder and maim innocent civilians, none of whom have had even the least bit of influence in placing the terrorists in the oppressed state in which they feel they are immersed.

Resenting the fact that civilized, rational folks enjoy each other's company at restaurants, nightclubs, concerts, or sporting events, these savages 'terrorize' by striking at the very core of what makes us human.

As I watched the television last evening, my mind raced back to April 15, 2013, at Legal Seafood, a restaurant two blocks away from the finish line of the Boston Marathon, on Boylston Street. Pleased with my race, which had completed an hour earlier, I raised a glass of Guinness as I waited for my sandwich.

With the sound of a cannon blast, terror, the embodiment of evil, struck.

Fear, disillusionment, chaos, and anger filled my mind that afternoon, as I became a witness to the events as they unfolded..

I wrote a complete account of my feelings about that day in my book, Personal Best, in the chapter entitled, "Was That Thunder?" www.muldowneyrunning.net

In the writing of two books, no chapter was as important for me to get right. It was a day I will never forget, as terror struck home for me.

Terrorism is our new norm. It grips us. It follows us wherever we go. There is no vaccine. There is no immunity.

All of us are targets. All of us are civilian soldiers in a global war.

The enemy doesn't wear uniforms, and the rules of war do not apply here.

At the 2013 Boston Marathon, three people died, and nearly two hundred more were injured, some severely.

Their crime?

Cheering for their friends and loved ones at one of the world's most revered sporting event.

Last night, in Paris, folks watched a soccer game. They ate dinner and attended a concert.

More than one hundred of these innocents were slaughtered.

Their stories will be told over the next weeks and months.

Their family and friends will mourn their loss. The world will never benefit from their potentially positive contributions to society.

I'm not sure what the answer to global terrorism is. I guess there really is no answer.

Is it a "Holy War?"

I don't thing any religion's supreme being advocates the senseless destruction of human life as a way of honoring him or her.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Paris, France.

Having been close to a terrorist attack I offer my personal empathy.

Our world has shrunk and we are more global than ever before.

It is time for the civilized nations on this earth to band together and do whatever it takes to end the scourge of global terrorism.