Each one of us has been horrified, saddened, angry, or shocked by the tragic shootings at Virginia Tech on Monday. Some of us at this particular campus community have even lost close friends and loved ones. It is an event which touches us all, in many different ways. It is a time when we know that we need God's presence, but we may not even be sure how we can connect with God or with other Christians.
It's also a time we want to do something - anything - that can help. And we know there isn't much we can do. Yet, we can offer prayers. We can listen and support those who have lost a loved one. We can reach out to those who are lonely or different or outcast. We can seek to share God's love in all the many large and small ways Jesus taught us.
Sharing God's love, reaching out to others in love and connecting with them - it's at the very heart of a life of faith. When we love people, and then they are no longer with us, it's one of the most difficult and painful times we will ever know. It's something where the pain never fully goes away - it just deadends and grows smaller so that we can remember the good and joyful times we have shared in the past. Here is a quote from a Christian writer about what it's like to lose one we love.
"Rubble is the ground on which our deepest friendships are built. If you haven’t already, you will lose someone you can’t live without, and your heart will be badly broken, and you never completely get over the loss of a deeply beloved person. But this is also good news. The person lives forever, in your broken heart that doesn’t seal back up. And you come through, and you learn to dance with the banged-up heart. You dance to the absurdities of life; you dance to the minuet of old friendships." --Anne Lamott
Let us pray that all those who are grieving now will one day again learn to dance to that minuet.
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