Mumbai Madness Prompts Trip Memories

“Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus” is the main railway station in Mumbai (Bombay), India. This past week, two terrorists, part of a group of 10 Muslim extremists from Pakistan (according to police), walked casually into the terminal and began randomly shooting at anyone in sight – passengers, by-standers, restaurant patrons, and those unfortunate enough to just be there by happenstance.

Their actions triggered simultaneous attacks at a half dozen or so Mumbai landmark locations, including the Taj Mahal hotel and the Jewish ultra-orthodox Chabad Lubavitch movement headquarters. At last count, over 174 people have died as a result of the carnage. The above picture shows Indian soldiers guarding the besieged Taj Mahal hotel.

Just a bit over 15 months ago, our son Gregg and our granddaughter Hayley, then 10, walked through that same Mumbai railroad station to catch a train to Hubli-Dharwad and then eventually on to Bangalore. They had traveled to India with a group of a dozen or so on behalf of their Oregon church, which at the time was looking for a resonant ministry there to support and involve themselves from here.

In our shrinking world, the threat of global terrorism appears closer than ever before. In one sense, our neighborhood now extends around the world. As difficult as it is for us old-timers to process that, we have no alternative but to grasp it and embrace it. For it is reality.