The Virginia Tech Nightmare

What happened at Virginia Tech yesterday morning was nothing short of horrific. Many news stories have been written about the gunman and many more will be written, as more details are revealed. Much blame has been laid at the foot of the police and the administration of VT, but I cannot even imagine trying to shut or lock down a campus full of over 20,000 students and over 10,000 staff at a very PUBLIC university. But even these questions are for later, as we stop and think of those who have lost their lives in what has been called the worst such shooting in U.S. History.

What this should do for us as Christians is to make us aware that our next moment is not guaranteed, and that physical security on this earth is not guaranteed. To think that such security exists is to live in an illusion--because the same thing could happen somewhere else in another state, another school, building or workplace. People are sinful at their core, plain and simple. But for the restraining grace of God, humanity's fallen nature would result in many more instances of pain and suffering than already exist.

Today is the day of salvation, as the Scripture says--do you know Christ as your Lord and Savior, trusting in Him to be your righteousness, to justify you before God? And do others around you know this? Because if you haven't "gotten around to it" to think about it (or tell others about it), how do you know the next time you walk into the store, the gas station, the bank won't be the last? This is not to sound morbid, but a wake-up call that our lives are not our own, and we certainly don't determine how long our tenure on this earth lasts!

Pray for the families of the victims, for those who survived the attack, for the other students who will be affected by this, as well as the family of the shooter. Pray also for the support teams on the ground--medical and psychological personnel, as well as pastors and churches as they help to heal the physical, mental and spiritual wounds that this has caused.