{"id":643,"date":"2013-04-17T19:57:24","date_gmt":"2013-04-17T19:57:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=643"},"modified":"2013-04-17T19:57:24","modified_gmt":"2013-04-17T19:57:24","slug":"boston-then-and-now-when-life-changes-in-an-instant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/04\/boston-then-and-now-when-life-changes-in-an-instant.html","title":{"rendered":"Boston Then and Now: When Life Changes in an Instant"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Everyone who ran, everyone who watched, indeed everyone who has heard of what happened in Boston on Monday will never forget. And those who were injured – emotionally or physically – will carry images, emotions, and perhaps physical reminders of that day throughout the rest of their lives.<\/p>\n

How do you cope when life changes in an instant? When you awaken from surgery to discover one or more limbs are gone, or you cannot sleep because the horrific scene you witnessed keeps playing and playing in your mind? What does your world become, now that you are so altered?<\/p>\n

Where is God in the rubble?<\/p>\n

Medical care, of course, is crucial to people suffering from the two blasts along the end of the Marathon route. And, not just emergency care, but ongoing care, to ensure the best possible outcome. For some, there will be difficult days of physical rehab ahead. For others, there will be great mourning. For still others,\u00a0there will be hard time devoted to emotional unpacking, examining, and understanding. For all, including those of us who watched as the scene unfolded on television, there will be a need for deep prayer and reflection, and for seeking goodness from God, which is a powerful balm against pain and loss.<\/p>\n

The time immediately after the blasts was filled with heroism and mercy; even those who were not first responders ran into the smoke and tried to render aid. In the aftermath, there continues to be a need for heroism and mercy – the heroism that comes from the determination to rise above and gain strength, and the mercy that comes from a desire to continue to help lift up. These grow courageously in the fertile soil of faith, and it is in them, in our souls, that God is and moves.<\/p>\n

Indeed, when life changes in an instant, the one constant that never changes is God. We may mourn, waver, weep, and hurt. But through it all, Our Lord never ceases to be ready with His comfort. As we turn from television screens filled with those unforgetable scenes from Boston, and turn inward, we can know that life may change, but the spirit remains. God is not in the rubble, but rather He stays, firm and loving, in our hearts.<\/p>\n

Blessings for the day,<\/p>\n

Maureen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Everyone who ran, everyone who watched, indeed everyone who has heard of what happened in Boston on Monday will never forget. And those who were injured – emotionally or physically – will carry images, emotions, and perhaps physical reminders of that day throughout the rest of their lives. How do you cope when life changes…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[518,520,182,519,47,149,325,56,96,522,23,521],"class_list":["post-643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-encouragement-in-life","tag-boston","tag-changing","tag-comfort","tag-disaster","tag-god","tag-healing","tag-life","tag-love","tag-prayer","tag-rehab","tag-spirit","tag-violence"],"yoast_head":"\nBoston Then and Now: When Life Changes in an Instant - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/04\/boston-then-and-now-when-life-changes-in-an-instant.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Boston Then and Now: When Life Changes in an Instant - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Everyone who ran, everyone who watched, indeed everyone who has heard of what happened in Boston on Monday will never forget. And those who were injured – emotionally or physically – will carry images, emotions, and perhaps physical reminders of that day throughout the rest of their lives. How do you cope when life changes…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/04\/boston-then-and-now-when-life-changes-in-an-instant.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-04-17T19:57:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/04\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic5-246x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mpratt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Boston Then and Now: When Life Changes in an Instant - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/04\/boston-then-and-now-when-life-changes-in-an-instant.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Boston Then and Now: When Life Changes in an Instant - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","og_description":"Everyone who ran, everyone who watched, indeed everyone who has heard of what happened in Boston on Monday will never forget. And those who were injured – emotionally or physically – will carry images, emotions, and perhaps physical reminders of that day throughout the rest of their lives. How do you cope when life changes…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/04\/boston-then-and-now-when-life-changes-in-an-instant.html","og_site_name":"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","article_published_time":"2013-04-17T19:57:24+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/04\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic5-246x300.jpg"}],"author":"mpratt","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/04\/boston-then-and-now-when-life-changes-in-an-instant.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/04\/boston-then-and-now-when-life-changes-in-an-instant.html","name":"Boston Then and Now: When Life Changes in an Instant - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/04\/boston-then-and-now-when-life-changes-in-an-instant.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/04\/boston-then-and-now-when-life-changes-in-an-instant.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/04\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic5-246x300.jpg","datePublished":"2013-04-17T19:57:24+00:00","dateModified":"2013-04-17T19:57:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#\/schema\/person\/b47fd8e9d9cc9750d5779f75b8669a32"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/04\/boston-then-and-now-when-life-changes-in-an-instant.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/04\/boston-then-and-now-when-life-changes-in-an-instant.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/04\/boston-then-and-now-when-life-changes-in-an-instant.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/04\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic5-246x300.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/04\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic5-246x300.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/04\/boston-then-and-now-when-life-changes-in-an-instant.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Boston Then and Now: When Life Changes in an Instant"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/","name":"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","description":"Beliefnet Voices","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#\/schema\/person\/b47fd8e9d9cc9750d5779f75b8669a32","name":"mpratt","description":"Several years ago, Maureen Pratt earned her Master of Fine Arts in Theater Arts\/Playwriting from UCLA's School of Theater, FIlm and Television. She expected to be writing scripts. God had other plans. A few years after her graduation, Maureen was diagnosed with a life-threatening case of organ-involved lupus. Her life turned upside down as she grappled with the effects of the illness and other health conditions that ensued. She was no stranger to serious health challenges; even as a child, Maureen had survived numerous bouts of pneumonia, flu, and other infections. But lupus made her take a fresh look at her life goals - and took herlifelong, strong Catholic Christian faith and writing in a direction she'd never imagined. Today, Maureen writes and speaks about walking with the Lord while living with chronic pain and illness. Her most recent book is \"Don't Panic!: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough (Franciscan Media). She is also the author of, \"Peace in the Storm: Meditations on Chronic Pain & Illness\" (Image Books\/Randomhouse), \"Beyond Pain: Job, Jesus, and Joy\" (Twenty-Third Publications), \"The First Year: Hypothyroidism, Second Edition\" (Perseus) and \"Taking Charge of Lupus: How to Manage the Disease and Make the Most of Your LIfe.\" She writes the syndicated column, \"Living Well,\" for Catholic News Service, and has also written for Saint Anthony Messenger Magazine, Journey for Women Magazine, The Upper Room Magazine, LupusNow, and Arthritis Today. Maureen's health continues to be a challenge, however she feels honored to be able to bring her perspective, from experience and knowledge, to others. \"Good Days...Bad Days with Maureen Pratt\" is a new way for Maureen to reach people who carry the burden of illness and pain in their lives, or who care for someone who does. Through the blog, she hopes to bring issues of health, wellness, and spirit into focus and, especially, inspire others that, no matter what health challenges, illness, or hardships they endure, each person can find a good way to realize the wonderful potential God has placed within each heart and soul.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.maureenpratt.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/author\/mpratt"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/548"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=643"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":646,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643\/revisions\/646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}