THIS is not how it is meant to be. Ordinary life, ordinary people, the everyday patterns of going about our day - that is how life is meant to be.

Yet sometimes, as bitterly we know of old, the normal and usual are shattered and blown apart. So it was yesterday in London when terrorist bombs caused an atrocity greater than any in memory in this country.

After the initial shock and horror, after the sickening disbelief at what has occurred, there is bound to be anger at such an outrage against humanity. The terrorists who carried out yesterday's explosions killed and maimed Londoners and visitors who were expecting nothing better or worse than a normal day.

London Mayor Ken Livingstone spoke powerfully about the attack on the innocent - and Prime Minister Tony Blair was moving, and uttered an important truth, when he said that the terrorists cannot win.

Such acts of barbarism generate great wrath - but this must not be allowed to stain our society. As Canon John Young says in tonight's Press, while we hunt down those responsible, blame or hatred should not be directed at "people who may look like them or come from the same cultural background".

If we were to turn against all Muslims because of the actions of a lethally deranged few, the terrorists would have won. Instead, we have to seek the perpetrators while maintaining an open and inclusive society. After all, this was an attack on one of the most mixed and integrated capital cities in the world.

A great difficulty in what has become known as the war on terror is that, unlike enemies of the past, modern terror is elusive and hard to fathom. It is apocalyptic in intent and scope, seemingly able to take different shapes and forms in pursuit of its twisted aims. Such a foe is always going to be difficult to fight.

As we move on from the darkest of days, security and intelligence will be more important than ever in hunting down those who would do us dreadful harm.

It won't be easy for the injured or the grieving, but honest ordinary life has to win the argument in the end.

Updated: 09:51 Friday, July 08, 2005