The world is never without tragedy: everyday people die for inhumane reasons, millions starve, and the media seems to only pay attention to these tragedies. This past week, the 2013 Boston Marathon was marred by two explosions that shook not only the streets of Boston but the hearts of the world as well. This act of terror was vicious, horrifying and a violation of human nature. As many of us have seen the footage of the bombings, there’s a lot that can be observed from these bombings.

The event was to celebrate running, and when those bombs went off, the running didn’t stop. No, simply the direction that people ran changed. We see people fleeing for their safety, but we also see something even more significant: race officials, cops, and other civilians running TOWARDS the sites that the bombs detonated. These people ran where they needed, not where it was the safest for them to be. Author Laurence Leamer remarks, “The difference between a helping hand and an outstretched palm is a twist of the wrist,” and though it is not always the easiest thing to do, it is by far the most important. Because it is only through helping others that we can truly help ourselves.

Another thing to notice is that the bombs went off in an area where the flags from each nation represented were being waved. In some beautiful symbolism, those flags, though rustled by the explosion, fail to fall because of this terror—this act of monstrosity—and those flags symbolize humanity.

We are all different, all come from different origins, walk different paths, but we all stand together and united as one. Yes there are bad people, but these people, no matter how horrifying, are few to be found, and the majority of humanity is honest, kind and caring. We wouldn’t have survived this long as a species if this were not true; we would have annihilated one another a long time ago.

So yes, this action was horrifying, and yes we will remember what happened, but as long as we believe in one another and commit to not allowing the evil to cover the good, we will survive. We must stick together and believe we can make a difference through helping others, because if we don’t we may as well give up. If we stand for believing in justice and peace, we cannot be defeated.