Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Heaven and Hell, and Virginia Tech


Well, I expected to come home last night and update my blog with a bunch of great stories from a great vacation. They will come later. My world has been turned upside down.

My favorite preacher says he has a hard time understanding a God who would condemn his most favored creations to an eternal torment (with him there). But, everyday, he sees people who choose to bring hell (or alternately heaven) to this earth. So, he supposes, people who choose hell here and now could potentially choose hell for eternally. Yesterday, someone chose to bring hell to my slice of heaven on earth.

Very few people who know me, even only a little bit, don't know about my love of my alma mater and Blacksburg. I was born a few miles up the road, and my parents took me for walks on campus long before I can remember. This is the place I grew up, became my own person, met my lifetime best friends. I spend a lot of time and money travelling back to Blacksburg every fall to support the football team.

Watching the news last night, they were looking for someone to blame. Since the perpetrator took his own life, I guess we need to find another's head to serve up on a platter. They wanted to blame Virginia's lax gun laws or the laws prohibiting concealed weapons on campus. They wanted to blame the police or President Steger for not reacting to the first incident.

I'm not interested in blame. How, then should, we react? I know I will be sad for a very long time. Jesus, the first recorded time he taught in public, read from Isaiah 61 about a time when there would be no mourning, when our broken cities would be rebuilt, broken hearts would be bound, the blind would see, and the prisoners released. He also said that that time was fulfilled in his teaching. Was Jesus a liar? No, it means Heaven and Hell are our choices here and now. Our only choice then is to live as if the Kingdom of God is, as Jesus repeatedly proclaimed, here and now. We must be emboldened in loving our neighbor, feeding the hungry, healing the sick. The first thing I will do tonight is hug my wife and tell her how much I love her. And call my parents and sisters and tell them the same. Then I will head to my other alma mater (NC State) who is having a candlelight vigil tonight.

We all have had dreams for Tech. President Steger has dreams of Tech as a top 20 Research Institution. Many dream of football or basketball national chapionships. I've dreamed of working or retiring there. Now Tech will always be known for the Virginia Tech Massacre. Not the stuff of dreams. I hope these other dreams will persist.

If this happened at Tech for any reason, it's because we're one of the best equipped university communities to handle this sort of thing. We already had each other in our hearts. We already had a heart for service (Ut Prosim: That I may service). We've lost more students and alumni in armed conflict than any other university other than the service academy.

Thanks to all who have expressed their condolences. The university community needs your continued prayers.

2 comments:

Jen Showalter said...

You've been on my mind A LOT - I know that this has rocked your world.

Just absolutely unbelievable.

Todd said...

Chris, hey man, I had been meaning to contact you to get your thoughts about this whole ordeal. Absolutely crazy. I have been thinking about you and praying for the VT community.

Last Sunday I had a real good discussion with my youth group kids and we spent some time in prayer for the community. My pastor knows the Presbyterian minister on campus, so we, as a youth group, sent her a letter expressing our support and prayers.

I would love to talk with you in person about all that is going through your head. We need to hang out soon.

Peace,

Todd