When I was a kid growing up in Framingham, Massachusetts, I loved the Boston Marathon. On the day of the race we would walk towards the town of Natick to watch the runners go by. I’d walk with mom as she pulled my baby brother in his little red wagon. Sometimes we’d help hand out water in little cups or sponges. No matter how exhausted people were at that 10-mile mark, they still looked so happy to be running. It was an exciting time. I vividly remember one funny, wrinkled, grey-haired man stopping to give my adorable brother “a big hug for luck!”

I didn’t hear about the bombs at the Marathon today until hours after they exploded. My first thought was of my cousin Erin and her fiancé Eddie, who were cheering on the runners from the sidelines. About an hour ago I learned that they left about thirty minutes before the bombs went off. I am so relieved and grateful.

But… my heart hurts so very, very, very much for all the families and friends who won’t receive good news today. I grieve for all those who are injured. I hope that they would all know that people around the country and around the world are praying for them. And I pray with everything in me that the violence in people’s souls would be healed, and that God’s compassion and wisdom would enter in.

God, let your presence be felt in Boston this day. Your undying love is the only hope for this troubled, sad world. Amen.