The Tragedy of Violence

The Tragedy of Violence

Like many of you, I find myself grieving, today, over the recent tragedy that took place on the campus of Virginia Tech University. I am hurting for the students, the victims, and the victims’ families. It’s all so senseless and twisted.

We can’t change what has happened, but we can do something about how we participate in violence. No, we don’t all use guns, but we do “kill”, destroy hope, and dismantle dreams with our words, our gossip, our dishonesty, our manipulation, and all of the other tools at our disposal that are so often used against others.

A young woman recently wrote me a note describing how she had been hurt… by church people… by their gossip, their mean looks, their suspicious gazes, and rejecting glances. The weight of all of this had finally taken its toll. On a Monday, in the middle of the day, she was still in the bed… crying and broken with depression. On the same day that an “insane” sniper took the lives of over 30 people through an act of senseless, random violence, church folk had taken the hope and joy of this woman through senseless, silent acts of spiritual violence. Both break the heart of God.

As I pray for the Virginia Tech family, I also pray for the people of God, that we will not be spiritual snipers, but that we will practice being catalysts of hope, life, and joy!

“He who testifies about these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming quickly’. Amen! Come, Lord Jesus” (Rev. 22:20)