Hope at Virginia Tech

News reports about the tragedy at Virginia Tech seemed unbelievable. My brother-in-law is the Bradley Professor of Electromagnetics in the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering there, and our son enjoyed his freshman and sophomore years at Virginia Tech before he decided to pursue a different area of study. How could this happen at a school that everyone in my family thought of as a safe and truly beautiful environment? We’ve been visiting family in Blacksburg for over 20 years.

One thing that immediately leaped to my thought was that those who are troubled need more attention and love in our fast-paced world. Certainly the young college student who committed the crime had deep inner conflicts and angers—much of which are still being discovered as police comb the records left behind.

But the question remains: how can anyone feel safe if something so awful can happen suddenly and without warning? There are no easy answers, but I found it quite encouraging that the students were able in some cases to prevent the gunman from getting to them or to escape before they were fired on. To me, their quick thinking is evidence of God’s love, guiding them. And I truly believe that safety rests on a spiritual foundation, one established and maintained by God.

The Bible reassures us, “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” We can’t let violent acts take away our safety. Evil is never in accord with God’s love for us. Each of us has a safe and secure place in His kingdom. As the Bible puts it, “The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.”

Nor can I accept that the intelligence and vitality of these college students and professors can be lost. I’m speaking about something more than keeping a memory of them. It is a gentle realization that they are spiritual, and are continuing to express their individual identities as children of God. Even though we can’t see them, their oneness with God is the same now as before. And our oneness with God and His ability to comfort those who are grieving is also a present help. No one is left behind.

This sentence by Mrs. Eddy helps me: “As a drop of water is one with the ocean, a ray of light one with the sun, even so God and man, Father and son, are one in being. The Scripture reads: ‘For in Him we live, and move, and have our being.’”

Crimes like this atrocity raise issues that go beyond the effects on the people directly involved. Why do they occur? Is there some larger trend that we need to be praying about? For me, this passage from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures provides a context for our times. Its description of events seems clear, and the ultimate outcome offers so much hope.

Mrs. Eddy wrote: “This material world is even now becoming the arena for conflicting forces. On one side there will be discord and dismay; on the other side there will be Science and peace.… These disturbances will continue until the end of error, when all discord will be swallowed up in spiritual Truth.”

I love the thought of being on the side of Science—the law of God—and peace, and of seeing Truth prevail at last. But this isn’t a passive activity. The passage from Science and Health continues: “During this final conflict, wicked minds will endeavor to find means by which to accomplish more evil; but those who discern Christian Science will hold crime in check. They will aid in the ejection of error. They will maintain law and order, and cheerfully await the certainty of ultimate perfection.”

Each individual will have different ways of helping to “hold crime in check.” For some, it may involve helping people like the young gunman before they lose self control. Or it may be finding ways to establish a dialogue in the midst of conflict, small or large. For others, inspired prayer for individuals and communities may help to turn the tide. There are as many ways to help as there are people willing to make the effort, and prayer will lead us to the contribution that is right for us.

Neither my son nor my brother-in-law believe the gunman’s acts will leave a lasting impression on Virginia Tech. Our prayers for healing—for the victims and their families and also for the gunman and his family—can do much to erase the shadows and the fear. My brother-in-law, who was away on the day of the attack, feels that students are going to think deeply about what has happened and will find a way to move on without fear. Already many students are gaining comfort from their friends and families.

For those who are still struggling, I thought of this passage from Isaiah, “Thus saith the Lord …. As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you.” Ever-present Love is comforting each of us, right now, providing the tender mothering that eases the sorrows of the heart.

As I think about the days to come, with people having to work out their next steps, I find great strength in these words by Mrs. Eddy: “Undisturbed amid the jarring testimony of the material senses, Science, still enthroned, is unfolding to mortals the immutable, harmonious, divine Principle,—is unfolding Life and the universe, ever present and eternal.”

As each individual moves forward, he or she will find evidence of God’s comforting presence and will begin to grasp in some way that divine Life, not death, is the answer. Life, God, provides strength, discernment, and courage to each of us. No one can be separated from this Life, which holds all of us—including those who were lost—in its loving hands.

Safety in God:

Science and Health
361:16
96:12-15,18,31
306:25

King James Bible
Ps. 91:1
Prov 18:10
Isa. 66:12 (to ,), 13