Wednesday Musings

Good Morning All!

Not again! How can this happen again? And with many more victims than the last? When will such violence end? Student turned sociopath… contempt for victims… irrational… emotionless… senseless murders… We need stiffer gun control in this country… Why did it take so long to alert the campus and take further action between the first incident and the second one? Aren’t colleges and universities responsible for the student safety?

Who could have done such a dastardly deed? Was it a terrorist-induced attack? Oh… a man from South Korea … might have known it was someone foreign? One of them. Bet he wasn’t here legally… Why don’t we figure out how to keep our borders safe from illegal entrants… Wait a minute… Waco… Oklahoma City… Austin TX… Paducah, KY… ”they” were each one of “us”…

Wonder, fear and blame have filled our minds and hearts these past couple of days… We are filled with so many questions; some of which have no answers. We are filled with fear; fear that it will happen again; fear that comes from knowing such a horrific act cannot be predicted nor prevented. And we are ever so quick to seek and find blame. Someone, some institution, some law or lack of law, some mental illness gone undetected or untreated; lack of policies in place we can blame. If only this… if only that… this wouldn’t have happened…

Grief floods our souls and hangs over us like a pall, weighing so heavy upon us; surrounding us on all sides as we seek comfort for all who mourn… there is time and great amounts of time will be taken to investigate these shootings…

But for now, many of us need to take time to be allowed to grieve… to simply grieve… as we pray for the families, friends, students, VTech faculty and administration… the Hokie Nation as it is called… all who must hasten to collect their thoughts and somehow through their grief make funeral and memorial arrangements; go through the “stage play” of doing what must be done to honor and bury the dead… dead sons and daughters, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, grandchildren, nieces, nephews and cousins, students, professors, roommates, classmates and best friends… God rest their souls…

And yes, we must pray for Cho Seung and his family… here legally in this country since he was 8 years old… not raised by wolves, but by caring parents who sought a better life here for their family; seeking a fine education for their son… a son filled with rage… a son whose mind somehow became twisted enough for him to think he would help society rid itself of those he thought were living lives of debauchery and shame… God rest his soul as well…

So for today we are a human race in mourning for the loss of wonderful, productive young people with bright futures. We will never know the missed opportunities and accomplishments that will be buried with them… teachers, scientists, researchers, doctors, lawyers, government leaders—men and women who were just getting started on their dreams to make a difference and have an impact on the lives of others… May this senseless moment in time never make sense… may it serve to remind the living of the compassionate and caring work left for us to do… Blessings, Joanne

The LORD is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?...I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness f the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord (Psalm 27: 1-2, 14)