will mark another notch in our nation's violence history. Columbine, which changed our thinking of school violence forever will mark its 8th anniversary April 20. The first school shooting happened August 1966 where Charles Whitman killed 16 from a tower before police killed him. As I write this, 33 are reported dead including the gunman. The count is changing constantly. As I listened throughout the day, it started at one dead, jumped to 20 and has steadily risen as the day progressed.
While we are horrified at the details and want to know why, we may never know. This is the single largest event of gun violence in our country and I dare say, not the last. No matter what we learn in the days to come, it will never make sense. The news keeps talking about, let the healing process began. I don't believe that is possible this side of heaven.
As I watched today's events unfold, I was struck again with the notion of how to explain it in the light of what I believe. If someone as prepared as this shooter wants to massacre people, we can talk and debate all we want but we will never stop them. There is nothing we could have done faster or better - no way we could have prevented it. That leaves us with trying to figure out what we believe when it does happen. What is our faith telling us, where is our faith leading us and how is our faith going to carry us.
That all sounds very spiritual - if it isn't your child or spouse. I can not imagine the pain of those parents and families who lost a loved one at VA Tech today. They will have to live with this for the rest of their lives. Every anniversary - they now belong to a club they never wanted to join. For the rest of us, we can only hold them up in prayer. Our faith will carry them. Lately, I have been praying for my grandbabies grandbabies. For those I will never meet, those I will never lay eyes on. When these events happen, I use my faith in the same way. for people I will never meet, people I will never lay eyes on. I don't have too. God knows and I am not interested in spending time asking why. For me, that is a waste of time and energy. I will know why Someday - for today, I just need to lift those up and let go.
Everytime we have one of this days - a day that will mark another day that we will never forget. One that reminds us that life is not easy and that Mayberry is only a TV show. One that builds the case that we are living in a dangerous world. One we can explain or stop. The only thing we have control over is our faith which will lead us Home...
