Reflection This Week
MAKING SENSE OUT OF THE SENSELESS

The story does not want to go away, nor should it, the story of the tragic massacre of thirty-two people at Virginia Tech by one lone and very lonely young man not quite two weeks ago. As we somehow feel we must, we pundits and preachers have been trying to make some sense out of this senseless act of violence. We even seem to feel it is our duty to do so.

     Yet, no matter how much effort we expend in so doing, we will never arrive at any satisfactory answer. Senseless acts never make sense, even when, as in this instance, they seemed to make sense to the perpetrator who eerily made a videotape to justify what he was about to do.

     What happened that day was certainly tragic. What is even more tragic is that most of us have now gotten on with the rest of our lives and placed this event somewhere into the back of our minds. We will remember that day only as the news people bring it back to our attention. Until then it will remain simply a byte in out memory bank. Only those personally affected are still weighed down and finding it difficult to move on. Only those scarred by that event will carry the residue of those wounds forever.

     Yes, we have to move on with our lives. We cannot live in the past and we cannot simply cease to live. Even those most affected have to move on. Such is life in this life. The real tragedy of this event will be if we have learned nothing and simply written it off as the insane act of someone who was obviously mentally unbalanced. It was that. It was all of that. It was also a tragic example of something of which we are all capable of doing even as we are abhorred by the thought that we actually could.

     Whenever we do that which we know we should not do, we, like this young man, find reasons to justify our actions. Then, after the fact, when questioned as to why we did what we did and cannot arrive at a justifiable defense, finally discover that at the moment of our sinfulness, we were slightly mentally out of sorts. What we did, in hindsight, really made no sense. The only difference between what we did and what that young man did was in degree of sinfulness. Yet difference in degree does not justify the sin. It never does and never will.

     When we stop to think about our sinfulness and perhaps compare our sins with this tragic event, what we discover is that what keeps us on the straight and narrow more often than not is what seems to have been missing in this man’s life: community. Not to discount the grace of God, but it seems to me, speaking very personally, what so often keeps me from doing what I should not, perhaps even going off the deep end, is my faith community, my family and friends.

     I know I am not alone. I am never alone even when I am all by myself. I know there are many, many people who love and care about me.  I walk the straight and narrow, even when I do not want to, even when it is difficult, because I do not want to hurt those who love me. They, you, give me strength at those times when almost every fiber of my being wants me to do something very, very selfish.

     Tragic events like this – events like Columbine, Oklahoma City, even 9/11 – are reminders to me of just how important community and family are. When we feel, even believe, that we are all alone, that no one cares, no one understands, we are prone to acting in ways that are totally selfish and self-centered. When we know there are people who care about us, who love us, we are strengthened to do that which is loving.

     Sometimes I think we either forget or take for granted just how important a support community truly is. Perhaps that reminder is at least one good thing that can come from this horrible tragedy.     WJP