Boston

(via)

The shock of yesterday's events started to sink in more last night as I watched CNN and read the many Facebook and Twitter posts of my friends. My brother lives in Cambridge, just across the river from where the Boston Marathon finish line was, and we have many loved ones in the area. I knew a handful of people running the marathon, who came from across the country with their families to celebrate Patriots Day and experience this famous race. I have mixed feelings about Facebook, for its power, for people to share whatever they think, no matter how terrible. But yesterday, I was thankful for it. It was reassuring to see all of the posts of support, sharing of prayers and hope, and the opportunities for friends at the race or in the city to let everyone know they were okay, and to see friends open their homes to strangers who needed shelter.

Just thinking about this tragedy brings tears to my eyes, especially because it is one of too many in the past months and years. Yet, everyone I know and many people who I don't are taking a stand that we won't be broken and we will continue to love, protect, and support each other no matter how terrible life can be. I am so grateful for all the helpers - for the doctors, nurses, and staff at Boston hospitals who performed surgery after surgery, for the fire departments, police stations, and civilians who put themselves at risk to make sure that each person who was injured got help. I hope that I could be even a fraction as strong and selfless as they are. Their actions help me believe in humanity and in people, for their goodness.

I don't know what the answer is, but I hope we find it, and I know tragedies like this one strike in other countries daily, and my heart goes out to anyone who is suffering. I am sending all of my hope and prayers to the victims, the hospitalized, and their families. The unfairness of an event like this one is palpable and maddening, and reminds us to cherish every day and every person we love, and to be there for people as often as we can. Lots of love to the blog world today.

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I remember, when 9/11 went down, my reaction was, "Well, I've had it with humanity." But I was wrong. I don't know what's going to be revealed to be behind all of this mayhem. One human insect or a poisonous mass of broken sociopaths.

But here's what I DO know. If it's one person or a HUNDRED people, that number is not even a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a percent of the population on this planet. You watch the videos of the carnage and there are people running TOWARDS the destruction to help out. (Thanks FAKE Gallery founder and owner Paul Kozlowski for pointing this out to me). This is a giant planet and we're lucky to live on it but there are prices and penalties incurred for the daily miracle of existence. One of them is, every once in awhile, the wiring of a tiny sliver of the species gets snarled and they're pointed towards darkness.

But the vast majority stands against that darkness and, like white blood cells attacking a virus, they dilute and weaken and eventually wash away the evil doers and, more importantly, the damage they wreak. This is beyond religion or creed or nation. We would not be here if humanity were inherently evil. We'd have eaten ourselves alive long ago.

So when you spot violence, or bigotry, or intolerance or fear or just garden-variety misogyny, hatred or ignorance, just look it in the eye and think, "The good outnumber you, and we always will."

Patton Oswalt, Comedian
(from his Facebook page)