We are not the only ones

Lest we think that we are the only ones who have undergone an attack, let us remember today the people of Madrid who suffered their own 11th, the 11-M as they write it, four years ago.

And London, who was surprised on 7 July 2005.

And there's Chile who had their 11th-September 1973.

And there are countless other places who have suffered. Just look at the morning headlines. The horror is as much because the daily routine we take for granted has been shattered.

But for today, pray for those who died on 11-M, for those injured, and for those whose lives were irrevocably changed.

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The above stamps were still being sold when we walked our first segment of the Camino in April/May 2004. The postcards we sent back to the US all received this stamp.

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I was in El Salvador on sabbatical when the attack in Madrid took place. Specifically, I was in a microbus (#142 Proyecto) going to Santísima Trinidad in San Martín, an hour out of San Salvador. We had just turned into the town off the Pan-American highway and were stuck in traffic. I thought it odd that someone was hawking a newspaper in the afternoon (though Co-Latino comes out in the afternoon). As the bus turned the corner, I saw the headline, Atentado a Madrid — Attack in Madrid. For the rest of the afternoon I wondered what was going on. When I got back to home base, San Juan, the ERD group staying at the Casa Anglicana told me what was going on.

In a way I am glad I didn't buy the paper. The photos were too graphic.

In any event, pray.


candles at the Atocha train station in Madrid after the attack