I feel profoundly sad today, sitting here in the auto repair waiting room, listening (involuntarily) to the news (not Fox, thank goodness). Fertilizer plant explosion in Texas, bombing in Boston, Congress's inaction (selfish, cowardly)--all seem terribly personal, and morally wrong at the highest levels.

Tomorrow's Small Group topic will be "Why do bad things happen?" There's no answer to that one. There is only comfort in community and then a lonely death, perhaps leaving a small hole for a bit, then soon forgotten, as everyone else's life moves on.

Why do we suffer pain, loss, death? That is the unanswerable question. We can only love one another and endure as best we can. The Buddha would say we can ameliorate suffering by avoiding attachment to things, to success, to the illusion of permanence.

We carry on.