Flowers for Boston

Almost two years ago when I heard a bomb go off in Oslo, I immediately thought of the construction work down the road. It didn't cross my mind that this loud bang in my safe and tranquil hometown could be a massive bomb that had just killed and injured a lot of innocent people.

I can imagine a lot of people in Boston did the same, probably thought they heard fireworks or something. The thought of a bomb at this annual, traditional family event in this safe, traditional city, seems so far away, so surreal. But sadly, we have to come to terms with that the surreal - is real.

The terror strikes ordinary people at moments when their minds couldn't be further away from fear and insecurity. Ordinary people - you and me. And among us, some people walk around with ideas of spreading fear and creating chaos among their peers. How and why these ideas occur is necessary to try to understand. The reason behind the specific attack however, deserves no attention.

No cause in this world can defend killing children. The action is cynical, ruthless and disgustingly cowardly. And tragically, it seems to be catching on among insane extremists.

One of the goals the terrorist that struck Oslo had was to promote what he called his "Manifest" - a paper describing his ideology and how killing 76 teenagers was "a necessary mean in his war against islam." Unfortunately, his paper got attention.

But he failed badly on several other goals. He failed to nurture fear and hostility between groups of people. He failed to turn people against the ruling government. He failed to spread hatred. He failed to destroy the political recruitment.

When a group of people is attacked, people unite, help each other, stick together. The group of ordinary people is pretty big.

The shock and the sorrow bring out the strength, the courage and the goodness in people. Instead of crawling into hiding, the masses strike back with an overwhelming demonstration of compassion, cohesion and love. It makes me proud of being human in the middle of the puzzling inhumane event.

The rhetoric from the White House has a different tune than before. There is no "us and them" or "war on terror" anymore. Justice, yes - the individuals responsible will be brought to justice. The arena of the war seems to have shifted from the ground to the mind.

Two years ago, back in Oslo, I walked downtown to leave roses by the area where the bomb hit. A journalist asked me why I wanted to leave flowers and I replied "because they are such strong symbol of compassion and peace. I really hope we'll see a lot of flowers here"

A week after the bombing, the sea of flowers was so big that a few blocks had to be closed off for traffic. It was closed for months.

When words come too short, flowers can pass on a powerful message. Flowers represent solidarity, compassion, cohesion, peace. Love. Let the purpose and cause behind this horrible act drown in a sea of flowers.

Ordinary people are not soldiers. But ordinary people can fight the enemy by refusing to back down to the fear. The war is in our mind. Protect your values by sticking to them. Keep living, keep running. In the honor of the fallen.