Suddenly these thoughts just overwhelmed me: I just want to say how heartbroken I am for the people of Spain, how sorry I am that these murders took place. I’ve never been there, but for three years I was a railroad commuter, travelling in and out of the big city. The people killed in Madrid were people like me, trying to earn a living, perhaps looking forward to seeing their coworkers, perhaps looking forward to being back home with their families that afternoon. They ate breakfast and drank coffee and kissed their wives or husbands or kids or pets goodbye. They read the paper, listened to their headphones, took a nap, stared out the window, thought about today’s meetings and schedules and projects, thought about the weekend. Now they’re gone forever because a band of vicious killers thought God wanted them dead.
The tragedy of this, on every level, is unspeakably profound. Please spare a thought for these commuters, and their country, and our world.