The Massacre at Virginia Tech

Whenever a major event happens, I like to wait a few days to process it. It's amazing what 48-72 hours will do to give me an objective perspective to balance my initial visceral reaction.

Several things have gotten the attention of the media as they report their different angles in an attempt to help us understand this egregious violation of simple civility.

One of our first reactions is one of shock. How can someone be capable of doing something like this? How could it be possible that something like this can happen on one of our university campuses? How is this going to change our perception of this and other universities we may send out children to?

Another reaction is dismay. How will we recover from this? Heads have got to roll, someone dropped the ball.

This and other reactions are valid, but incomplete. After a few days, weeks or months, objectivity begins to settle in. The truth is that no one can stop someone who has a premeditation to commit a crime. It's been said that "laws are passed to keep honest people honest." In other words, law breakers will find some way to skirt the law and do what they want to do.

We live in a free society. The price of freedom is vigilance. Personal vigilance cannot be replaced by laws, police officers, rules of conduct, admissions policies or other efforts to restrain. We live in a broken world where sin affects the innocent alongside of the perpetrators. The only real defense we have is to be vigilant, live uprightly, trust God to supervise our lives and do our best to influence others positively.

This doesn't mean that laws shouldn't be reviewed and maybe revamped. It just means that we shouldn't substitute rules and laws for understanding and living in the reality that we live surrounded by sin and sinners.

I grieve for the victims of the Virginia Tech slaughter. I grieve for the family of the killer who now have to live with the stigma that their son is infamous for his atrocious crime. I'll be a bit more vigilant, but I won't be surprised when this kind of thing happens again. It is why Jesus died, because man needs redemption. That is the only cure for the brokenness around us.