« Xtreme Critique Weekend & A Writing Camp for Kids | Main | Perfect Your Blog & Your Brand at Boot Camp PGH »
April 16, 2007
Virginia Tech Tragedy
When I flipped on the radio in the car this afternoon, I was horrified, angered, and saddened to hear the news of the Virginia Tech tragedy that occurred earlier today in Blacksburg, VA. It has become the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history, a record I'm sure Virginia Tech would rather not hold.
Upon hearing the news, my thoughts immediately turned to Columbine. This month marks the eighth anniversary of the school massacre that took place in Columbine High School in Littleton, CO where 15 people were killed, including the two gunmen. I'm not sure this connection is coincidental, but many of the facts remain to be seen.
My thoughts pivoted, then, to the amazing powers of healing and forgiveness displayed by the Amish community after the killings at the West Nickel Mines School in Lancaster, PA in the fall of 2006, just a few months ago. May we all mimic that faithful community's strength and their sense of unity.
My prayers go out to the family members of the victims of this senseless crime. I pray, too, for those families who have been unable to reach their loved ones and are experiencing a living hell while they try to do so. May peace come to all those involved. No one will be able to give these families satisfying answers; what answer could satisfy?
This tragic situation reminds me of a quote I once read by an anonymous author. It reads, “I guess when your heart gets broken you sort of start to see cracks in everything. I'm convinced that tragedy wants to harden us and our mission is never to let it.”
It is our duty as a society to recognize the cracks when they begin to reveal themselves. And we must, as the quote suggests, join together and refuse to harden in the face of evil.
Posted by Judy at April 16, 2007 04:23 PM
Comments
Hey Judy, I came to finally comment on the writing camp post and was shocked by this--as I was when I turned on the tv earlier today. Things like this infiltrate every corner of our minds. At least for a while. I can't imagine what anyone associated with the kids, the school, the community must be feeling. Utter shock, I imagine. I can only believe most of the world operates the way you've suggested. Otherwise we wouldn't have even a percentage of the goodness we do. Thanks for the recognition of such a difficult situation.
Posted by: kathie at April 16, 2007 09:56 PM
The Virginia Tech tragegy takes my breath away. My son has a number of good friends there, and I'm friends with several of their parents. We have established that the kids we know there are "safe" although it is clear that they will never be the same after this horrific experience. One young woman we heard from lost a dear friend in her dorm, and had two other friends shot; another was in the building which was chained shut before the carnage. Others were on campus, in lock-down mode. All I can think to do is pray for Virginia Tech, for all our children, and for our increasingly troubled world. In my fifty-some years of life I have very rarely felt this way, but words fail me at this moment...
Posted by: mary at April 17, 2007 08:18 AM