Does This Break Your Heart? It does mine!

Martin was only eight, and very excited about attending the Boston Marathon with his parents. He had no idea this would be the last social event he would ever attend. Nor did his parents. The excitement was high, the marathon has been long and the fun the had been enormous for this little eight-year-old boy.

In his school recently he had made the poster you see in this hub to remind the world of our ultimate goal – Peace.

All too often in this busy world we live, whether it is recreational time, or our personal projects, we forget about our ultimate goal. We pass people on the street and pay no attention to them. Are they elderly, do they need help? Are they walking very slowly, looking terribly sad? Someone begging for help? Or are there children skipping along in front of you full of joy, that you just fail to see?

Take the time to look around you and be thankful for what you have. You and I have the opportunity to make a difference in this world. We do not live in war torn Iraq or Somalia or Turkey or Afghanistan, but we live in the United States of America.

Here, in these United States of America, we take everything for granted, even though we think we don't. We take for granted that we can run a marathon and have fun and the only negative outcome will be that we are really tired at the end of the day.

People in war-torn countries run the marathons of their lives. They run so they won't get shot. They need to protect their children. They run to take care of their families. And they hide. They cannot just openly go wherever they choose to go. There are no fun activities. No parties, no games, no relaxation or release for these people.

We are so blessed to be in the United States of America. We may not like or agree with our current government, but we are free to express ourselves in that disagreement. No one is going to shoot us or haul us off to jail just because we disagree with the government. We are free on Saturdays, Sundays, Wednesdays, whenever, to go and worship however we choose.

We are free to go in our homes lock our doors lay down and take a nap, without the worry of anyone doing us harm. We are free to go to the market and purchase whatever we want because there's plenty there to buy. Our lives are lived in luxury.

Some of us have more luxuries than others. Because we were wise with our money when we were young, we have some as we get older and we can enjoy life a bit more. Some of us lived up to our expectations, and some did not. We have the freedom to do that: to make good choices and to make bad ones. Yes there are consequences but they are not death.

Our children are privileged to attend school, public school or private school. They have the the privilege of participating in sports and in extracurricular activities after school or during school. School to them is not a grind, it is a blessing. If they do not see it that way, it is our privilege, our honor and our responsibility to help them understand it is that way.

The Boston Marathon bombing is a terrible tragedy. It dwells in our hearts and our souls and calls for action. We cannot sit around being miserable because people have lost their lives, lost their limbs, and lost their hope. Each of us has the responsibility to act.

Actin is not always an obvious thing. But I had it pointed out to me that nightmares and crying and hurting helps no one.

I was told to take time for meditation, and to bring the goodness of the universe into my soul and to push out the healing that is needed for those who were in attendance at the Boston Marathon. I was told this by a very wise woman who has learned the hard way how to deal with tragedy.

This woman has fought every minute and every second of every day she's ever lived, since she had her child, for the life of her child. She has learned how to take sadness and deal with it. Because of her, her child is a positive statistic not a bad one. Her child will go on to do great things because her mother believes in the power of the universe.

I believe in power. I believe what ever we give out we get back. I learned this from this wise woman.

So I leave you with these words today during our Time of sadness. Whatever is in your heart, take action. Prayer is good but not enough. Send out extra love to those in Boston. Show extra love to those around you. Take your smile put it on and share it with everyone you meet.

There is a time for everything; this is a time for encouragement.