Monday, April 16, 2007

a day of horror

My son is home from school today because of illness and turned on the television at about 1:30 pacific time only to get the news of the horror at Virginia Tech. As I watched the news conference, more than once my eyes filled with tears as I thought of the student's families, some of whom are wondering what has happened and whether their loved ones are safe, others have gotten word and are relieved, and some have gotten the worst news possible. The potential of each of those young people is forever gone...

At this point we don't know exactly what happened or what led a young man to such unspeakable violence. What we do know is that it is not uncommon... 33 killed at random is a typical day in Iraq. 33 dead for no reason is a good day in Darfur. Children traumatized by violence around them is normal in many areas of our world (today's USA Today reports a study that shows 70% of Iraqi school children suffer from traumatic stress).

I pray for comfort for the families of the victims, for healing for those injured and those who will never be able to erase the memories of the day. I pray for a culture, a world where violence is the easy answer to problems. I pray for peace.

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