candles burning bright....

My dear friend Heather was praying for me during the race on Monday. 

She lit some candles and then sent me this picture after the race.  

She also sent me this message that has been so reassuring: 

It's truly surreal to have been praying for you as you "ran your race with endurance for the joy set before you" and then to have this happen. I tracked you during the race and my heart stopped when I wasn't sure if you were still near the finish line taking pictures or whatever. Then you wrote last night that it was 15 min AFTER you had left the site. Like you and others, I don't even know how to feel. Once again I will be lighting the candles today but many, many more. I like a candle as prayer because it simply sits there and burns before God - burns in longing, in grief, in gratitude, in joy. It is a symbol to me of those beautiful words in the prayer for runners that "the glory of God is a human being fully alive." It reminds me that our burning before God - this state of being fully alive - IS the light in the darkness.

President Obama offered these words 
at the prayer service in Boston yesterday: 

"Our prayers are with the injured-so many wounded, some gravely. From their beds, some are surely watching us gather here today. And if you are, know this: As you begin this long journey of recovery, your city is with you. Your commonwealth is with you. Your country is with you. We will all be with you as you learn to stand and walk and, yes, run again. Of that I have no doubt. You will run again. 
You will run again!

And we will run again. You are strong. Boston is strong. And You and Boston have made us enormously proud. The Boston Marathon is a deeply held tradition, an integral part of the fabric and history of our running community. We are committed to continuing that tradition with the running of the 118th Boston Marathon in 2014. 
We will all run again."

Let us all light candles in faith and with hope for healing....