Shaping the world's heart

Thoughtful, caring responses from family and friends to the tragic events of 7/7 remind me again of a) what a wonderful community of loving souls Kathy and I are blessed with, and b) the depth of compassion that wells spontaneously from our collective heart when tragedy strikes. Perhaps the latter exposes a fundamental flaw in whatever logic there is to acts of terror. The "backlash" to be reckoned with when all is said and done may not be our immediate efforts to learn who's responsible and exact revenge; were that the end of the matter, the perpetrators will always have the manipulative edge because they can count on our predictable reactions.

Rather, the significant response, the one that ultimately shapes the heart of the world, is compassion itself: the stream of love for and felt connection with our fellow humans -- a stream that bursts outward from the effects of bombs exploding as surely as metal fragments and blood hitting concrete walls.

In a fallen world, we can't expect to be exempt from the reactive, immature policies of leaders who appeal to our most base motivations to make war and perpetuate the insane cycle of violence. But, in a redeemed world, we can trust that something else also is at work, something that is more powerful than smart bombs, armored vehicles and weapons of mass destruction. Also at work is the deep, deep undercurrent of compassion that the bombs themselves, paradoxically, are unleashing and whose effects are unpredictable, even unknowable, but as surely transforming of the world as the armies of the night.

That's certainly not to say the London tragedy is cause for celebration or hope. Violence wherever it occurs -- Iraq, Sudan, the West Bank, etc. -- exposes and to some degree enhances our propensity for evil and is always to be deplored. But, those who take the longer view, of life and the greater forces at work, also can "take heart" -- take, that is, the incalculable, irrepressible compassion that arises from such events and give it meaning through concrete acts of love and justice. These are the very antithesis of terror. When, finally, we tap that wellspring of boundless compassion and build our politics and policies around terror's opposite -- a tall order, we know, when we observe the actions of our current leaders -- terror itself will become a muted, and perhaps even moot, reality.