Brussels is a beautiful city.

Early one August morning 20 years ago I had a layover in the Brussels airport, so I took the train with some friends to the downtown area.  Since most of the city was still asleep, we were able to walk around enjoying the sights without worrying about any crowds.  Other than the Belgian waffle I purchased at a small stand – how can anyone be in Belgium and not eat a waffle – my favorite part of that morning was standing with just our small group and being awestruck by the beauty of the city’s “flower carpet” – a display of more than 600,000 flowers in the central square.  Slightly smaller than a football field, words are inadequate to describe its splendor.  The photographs below are from the internet – not ones I took that morning – but they help you imagine what it was like as we stood there in silence.  We were blessed to have the scene to ourselves.  Since the “flower carpet” happens only one week every two years, we were really blessed to be there at that moment in time.

It was a very different story this past Tuesday morning when evil, in the form of Muslim terrorists, exploded two bombs in the Brussels airport and a third at a metro station.  Thirty-One people died and 270 were wounded.

When I learned of the attacks I recalled my morning in that beautiful city.  My morning there had been all smiles and laughter, beauty and joy.  This past Tuesday morning was one of tears and fear, blood and death.

Belgium’s Prime Minister called it an act of “barbarism of the most extreme kind.”  Their King labeled the attacks “cowardly and odious.”  Both men are correct.

In Proverbs 6:16-17 we are told that God hates seven things, among them “hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil.”  These radical terrorists fit that description.  There is no excuse for their ideology and actions.  It is appropriate for the nations of the world to unite in more than rhetoric and destroy those who seek to destroy us.  That is the role of government – to protect citizens who do what is good and punish those who do evil.

Yet I do one to give one word of caution.  Romans 12:21 says: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Our emotions, especially anger, are powerful and have the potential to contaminate us.  Allowing that to happen would add to the destruction caused by these cowardly terrorists.  So I encourage you to find someone in your world and do an act of kindness for them.  Keep your heart soft and good.  Do not allow evil to change you.

While you’re at it, join with others in this beautiful world our God created and pray for the people of Brussels – especially those whose loved ones died.

Pastor Steve Hogg