regarding Virginia Tech

Right now CNN is reporting that 32 students have been killed by a gunman at Virginia Tech University. 29 more are wounded. Some were in their dorms, and most were sitting in class. They were probably checking their email, writing blogs, doing sudoku puzzles, or maybe even taking notes. They weren't in a war zone. They hadn't signed up to go into combat, or put their lives on the line. They were just kids going to school. A lot like me. I woke up in a dorm, and went to class today. In fact, I was sitting in a class room when I learned about these students being killed in class rooms. I wanted to vomit.

Now I am sitting in a lounge with the news switched on, watching students walk by in the hallway. Most are talking on cell phones or listening to their i-pods. Some stop to look at the tv screen. They express surprise at the death toll, and then turn away and keep walking. A few have wordlessly dropped into one of the chairs in front of the screen. They are overcome by their knowledge of a tragedy that speaks to some of the darkest deeds that humanity is capable of. These people know that in the face of such grim reality they can't just keep walking. And I am with them. I don't understand how to just go about my daily routine when things like this are happening.

The saddest part is that this not exactly a unique event when one takes a look around the world. How many young people have been killed in Iraq over the last several years? How many child soldiers are shooting at other kids in Africa? There is also the incredible violence and injustice that is seen in every element of the international sex trade. Humanity tells millions of stories in which countless people are killed or injured every day, in every corner of the world. No, Virginia Tech is not unique. But does that excuse apathy? Does the fact that humanity is utterly fallen, corrupt, and violent mean that it is morally excusable for me to unplug, and not feel grief?

I don't understand the people who just keep walking. We are so self centered. We believe that because the violence is on a different campus, or in a different country, that it won't touch us. A lot of Virginia Tech students probably had that mindset this morning, until the fallenness of humanity touched their lives in a particularly gruesome way.

We need to break our apathy. We need to be more sad about the state of our world. And we need to translate that sadness into love for those who face the harshest consequences of the way things are.