Burn and Rave

Nothing anyone says seems to be right. The school officials at Virginia Tech are accused of saying too little after the first shooting. The classmate of the shooter, Ian McFarland, is accused of using the tragedy for 15 minutes of fame because he put up a blog about the shooter and the shooter’s plays. And then everyone everywhere is commenting to respond to the tragedy.

I think it’s great that people are responding. We should be. We’re people. We should hurt when innocent people die (I didn’t put in the exact number because I can’t decide if the shooter is innocent or not since he could have been mentally incapacitated and in a pathologic state). We should feel compassion. We shoud feel the need to express the emotions that this traumatic and horrifying event elicits.

However, we should not be blaming. We should not blame the classmates who knew about the shooter’s twisted writings. We should not blame the school officials. We should not blame the police. We should not blame God.

Afterall, isn’t that how it all starts, when blame wins over forgiveness?

We are people, and we are capable of compassion. Let’s make use of that untapped brain power to heighten our ability to love and to show mercy. It’s too late to help those killed in the Virginia Tech tragedy, but it’s not too late to call our parents and grandparents. It’s not too late to tell our friends how much they mean to us over a cup of coffee no matter how busy the schedule is. It’s not too late to hug our children. It’s not too late to smile to the stranger sitting across from you on the bus.

It’s too late to reach out to 33. It’s not too late to reach out to millions more. Let’s do what we can. We can’t resurrect the dead. Let’s make peace with the living.