Virginia Tech Tragedy

Dear God:

Lord, you are good. Period. You created us, gave us life, and take away life. More importantly, you also gave us eternal life through your Son, Jesus. For some reason, you chose to grant me the free will to choose you in return. I trust you, Lord, with my life, with this earth, and with the afterlife.

But God, I have some questions following the past month or so. Jason Ray died. Pam Barrow died. Christie Smith is in critcal condition. And today, at least thirty three people were killed in the town I live, Blacksburg, VA, at Virginia Tech. And I don't know why. But God, that's not my question. The "why?" aspect of all these things is far above my grasp. You know, clearly, why each of these things has happened. I don't really need to know why they happened. Besides, there's always the chance I might not like the answer.

But I do want to know, "why not?" As in, "God, why them and not me?" I think that's a natural, albeit morbid, question. I mean, why has J-Ray got to be the first BOFFO member to go to heaven? Why does Christie's incredible heart for God have to be slowed by a horse riding accident? Why does my friend Jessica have to lose her mom so soon after losing her Dad?

And God, you haven't told me the answers to these questions yet. Don't get me wrong, I'm not looking to check out on earth yet. I think there's still some good I can do here. Certainly, I want to glorify you with as much of my life as I can while I'm in this life. But it still makes me wonder why it was a specific person, how do you choose?

God, I don't expect an answer to this question either. I think the ultimate answer is that each bit of sadness on this earth helps create heaven. Without our sadness on earth, there would be no reason to have heaven, where all glory is your's. Obviously there is so much pain and sadness here, in our lives. I just ask that you give each of us the strength to get through it all, and provide us the discernment to know and understand your will and your power over all things.

Love,

KPW


Ok, some thoughts on Virginia Tech. Since I am not a student at Tech, I was not really in danger, nor directly effected (at least thus far) by the shootings today. I do not know a ton of students, but the ones I do are safe. However, to say that today did not effect me in some way would trivialize the events. The best description is surreal. It is really hard to relate what I watched unfold on my office's television and outside our windows as being reality. People really died. And it happened in Blacksburg, VA. The eerieness of the town is...well, eerie. Today will define the college experience for many students at Tech, and the lives of many people in the New River Valley.

Next, it is important, at least in my mind, to try to grasp the magnitude of the events in a historical context. As I have discussed with multiple people, today will be in history books that our children read. The shooter's name, once released, will be infamous. Virginia Tech will be mentioned in the same breath as Columbine, Kent State, University of Texas, Oklahoma City, Olympic Park bombings, and of course, 9/11. Re-read that sentence and let it sink in for a minute. I had to read it aloud.

Also, I tried to put myself in the position of someone in a classroom. Growing up, I often thought about being a hero of sorts in a hostage situation or some other crisis. Ok, that's probably from playing with too many G.I. Joes (I still have over 200 mind you). But, the point is I wanted to put myself in the situation to figure out how I'd react. Ideally, I'd be rushing the gunman, throwing a desk, throwing a chair, and probably getting shot in the process. Certainly helping others and putting myself at risk. But is that what I would actually have done? If you're not close enough to jump the gunman, what do you do?

The news conferences and questions have been a little rough. Hindsight is 20/20. I'm sure that not everything possible was done to prevent this incident, but there is no precedent. No one can be blamed, so quit trying to find someone (ahem, journalists). Just be patient and wait until everything is straightened out. Your grilling of the people involved is not helping the crisis, so back off.

Please continue to pray for Virginia Tech, its students and staff, Blacksburg, and our society. Also, THANK YOU to everyone who called, emailed, Facebook-ed, text messaged, or just spoke to me today. Yes, I am ok, but just to know that such a high number of people would think to inquire and care is amazing. Not really just concern for me, but mainly for how people were doing up here. Some of you I had not spoken with in years and you still got in touch. It means a lot that you care about VT and our community.

I am confident that God is doing great things through this horrible tragedy. He will be glorified somehow, and already has been. Please pray also that His love will pour out on this campus and people will come to Him for eternal love and support. Remember, when everything else is falling apart, God is steadfast in His love for each of us.