It’s April 16, and it seems like everyone has forgotten. I saw a few of us today. Orange and maroon t-shirts, some with hats, some with pants. We remembered. I listen to the news today. It’s all about the Popes visit. Who cares about the pope? Oh, I guess the 45,000 who came to Washington DC see him tomorrow. I’d like to ask a few questions of the Pope myself. Like since he’s so close to God and all……why did April 16 happen? Of course, I know the answer. We have free will, and we are a fallen nation-and it is NOTHING that God DID (we all know we deserve more suffering then we get), but since the Pope thinks he’s so close to God, I’d like to here his answer.
A year ago today one of the worst massacres in college History occurred. Why does it bother me so much? I cannot escape remembering. Every day of the week I pass by a small memorial to one of the victims. A flag, flowers, pictures, and stuffed animals are strewn on a fence. This is to remember Mary Read, who died in her Frech class. Mary was also a sister, a sister in Christ. I found in reading her bios this year that I relate to her a lot. She used to wear flip flops around all the time, just like me. She loved Jesus, just like me. She loved kids, just like me. She won a “best smile” award, just like me. She was 19 years old, just like me.
I remember when I head about the Tech shootings. I had just gone to school, but at that point, they only had reported 2 deaths. A few friends came in a few hours later and told us that their was around 20 reported deaths, and many injuries. I have several close friends at Tech, so to be honest, I was pretty scared. When I heard reports that all my friends were safe, I breathed again. Then, it hit me. A 33 other sets of parents wern’t breathing again.
We can place blame on anyone we want to. We can force cameras in the faces of Cho’s family and friends, pressuring them, calling them names, and it won’t help. I’m not even entirely sure Cho is 100% to blame. Blame isn’t the issue, the past cannot be changed, history cannot be rewritten.
In Cho’s manifesto he said that “thanks to you, I die like Jesus Christ, to inspire generations of the weak and defenseless people…. You had a hundred billion chances and ways to have avoided today but you decided to spill my blood. You forced me into a corner and gave me only one option. The decision was yours. Now you have blood on your hands that will never wash off.”
Chilling words from a haunted man. Virginia Tech is real, and so is the hurt and torture that Cho faced. So, the question lingers, what can we do to prevent this from happening again? We can’t. It probably will happen again, sadly.
What could have saved Cho? The love of Jesus in human flesh. Who has the potentialto do something like Him? We all do. The only reason we don’t is because of the grace of God. Why must we then remain silent? Sure, actions speak louder then words, but what are we doing to help others who are suffering in the same way that Cho was? Help for the hurting. Peace for the anxious, grace for the condemned, forgiveness….even for killers.
Mary Read wrote a quote in her journal before she was shot that summed this up.
“When a deep injury is done us, we will never recover until we forgive,”
That’s a lot easier to write, then live, granted. We need to be more like her.
I want to leave you with a poem I wrote last year. It was published in my school’s yearbook.
“Forgiveness-Virginia Tech”
Images flash upon my screen,
The faces, never again to be seen,
Robbed of life at such an early age,
It is easy for me to feel such rage.
I look at the picture of a man,
Hatred etched in his face,
You can’t erase,
the hurt in his eyes,
he faked a disguise.
What could have been done?
Away from it I cannot run.
How could he have been stopped?
To my knees I drop.
The stories resonate in my head,
Devastation, I feel the dread,
I look for hope in this time,
Knowing that I cannot rewind,
I find peace in God above,
And with Him, I forgive, with love.
Garment of Praise 
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