<heavy sigh> I awoke this morning to the news that London has been attacked by terrorists, not once, but four times, and presumably by a European-based cell of al Qaeda. This, on the heels of the great celebration yesterday when London was awarded the 2012 Olympics, and while the G8 Summit takes place in Scotland.
I haven't yet had the opportunity to visit London, or anywhere in the U.K. for that matter, although I know I will be there some day, and probably not all that far off in the future, either (it's just a short train ride through the Chunnel on the Eurostar from Paris these days). I do have a number of British friends, clients and colleagues, all of whom I am ardently praying for at this very moment, for their safety and the safety of their loved ones, hoping none of them were on that bus or in the Tube at the time of the bombings.
For someone, like me, who is a pacifist and a collaborative person by nature, it's a very difficult concept to grasp -- that we live in a world where one group of people can so hate another group of people and so demean the value of a human being, that they feel their only recourse for their grievances is to carry out such a horrific act upon innocent people. The victims of terrorist bombings are just every day average Janes and Joes, going to work, visiting a friend, doing a little sightseeing. They are husbands and wives, sons and daughters, friends and colleagues, all with their own valuable lives to lead. They are not the government; they are not the politicians and policy-makers. They are simply, "The People".
Terrorists are petty creatures, so focused on their own pain and their own drive to feel powerful at any costs, that they will go to any lengths to make their point. There is no reasoning with people like that. And there is no sense trying to make sense out of something that is senseless. They want to be enemies, not friends. They want to destroy, not create. They don't want to have a dialogue about their grievances. They don't want to work in collaboration with others for a peaceful solution. Where yesterday, Londoners were dancing in the streets in joy at the prospects of hosting an Olympic games, where peace and harmony and sportsmanship rule -- today, somewhere in the world, al Qaeda terrorists are dancing in celebration of having, in their minds, 'struck a blow' to their enemies - just the way they danced in the streets when the World Trade Center fell.
Frankly, I'm at a loss to suggest WHAT the solution might be. We can't sit by and do nothing, of course. We can't wait for them to "see reason". They don't want to be "reasonable" by our standards, because in their warped minds, they think their actions are ENTIRELY "reasonable". We aren't playing by the same set of rules as the terrorists (nor should we ever aspire to do so). And realistically, trying to "wipe them all out" with firepower and warfare isn't going to work either. There will always be more of them, people who despise and hate any free society. They believe THEY are the "victims" in the world and now they are striking back. They feel they are justified. How do you convince someone like that to change their point of view, and their actions? I don't know that you CAN convince them, through peaceful means or through violent ones. As a coach, I know that you can never make another person change until he or she is darn good and ready to change. That's not exactly a comforting thought when the people you wish would change are doing something so destructive.
What the terrorists fail to understand is that, each time they strike, they don't beat the rest of down or take away our freedoms - they only strengthen our resolve to continue forward with our freedoms and our lives. Perhaps the best we can do, as individuals, is resolve within ourselves to, in the words of Mahatma Gandhi, to "Be the change you wish to see in the world." If we want peace, we have to BE peaceful in our thoughts, words and personal choices. We can't change others; we can only change ourselves.
London, we are with you today. Your city is in our thoughts. Your people are in our prayers. You've been through worse, and you'll come through this, too. And I, for one, am looking forward, not only to visiting your city as a tourist very soon, but also to buying a ticket to YOUR Olympics in 2012. Well done!