Tuesday, April 17, 2007

On days like this, I am acutely aware that all my complaining about the weather here seems pretty darned silly in light of what could be happening. I am, of course, referring to the shooting at Virginia Tech, for those who have been living in their cave quite comfortably for the whole day. Seriously, if I can hear about it in Three Hills, what's your excuse?

Somehow, words seem extraordinarily inappropriate. I do, however, have a couple of observations about the reaction to the events, specifically here on campus.

First (can you tell by my structure tonight that I've just been writing a paper and can't quite get away from the style?), it's interesting to see how individuals respond. When I saw what had happened on TV, I got that chill in the pit of my stomach, like a huge block of ice had suddenly been deposited. Others, however, were seemingly unaffected, and even a little bit glib. I almost smacked one of the guys for being so flippant about the whole thing. We live in an age where if it's happening on TV, it's somehow not real. Those students are nothing like us; they weren't just going about their day just like we are; they don't have families who are torn apart by this tragedy, etc. It's amazing to see what the power of TV can do.

Second, our corporate response was, I think, lacking. Like many institutions, Prairie has an internal email system that connects the students, staff, and faculty. Several people use it daily to send out mass emails about stupid things (i.e. "I lost my sunglasses, please call me if you see them"), and yet all day, and nothing about the shootings. This is a Christian institution--where, then, is our call to prayer? Do we really believe that prayer is powerful and effective, and are we willing to use it in times of crisis, even if that time of crisis happens to be in the last week of school when everyone's really busy? Yes, there is some level at which it becomes voyeuristic, but I just think that it would have been big of us to at least send out an email saying that a core of people would be praying in the prayer chapel, and invite whomever out to it.

The point of this rant is that as Christians, we need to take on the demeanour of Francis Schaeffer, and weep for the injustice and death we see in our society. If we do not extend our own emotions to the victims of injustice, even on the other side of the continent, we lose what makes us human, and what makes us connected within the body of Christ. It's our duty, if I can use a loaded word such as that one, to lift them up in prayer.

Anyway. With that, I'm done for the day. It being the last week of school, and with said paper being written, the time for blogging is minimal. This is the way it'll be for a couple more days at least, until Wednesday evening when suddenly all my cares will melt away. Aah.

See you tomorrow.