A Tragedy

My prayers for the souls of those students and professors who were massacred by a lone gunman, Cho Seung-Hui in a Virginia Tech university in the U.S. So sad for those innocent people to die in the hands of a troubled young man described my his peers and professor as a loner, anti-social and a senior English student who writes grotesque plays and creative but morbid writings.

I can never fathom or conceive any reason why a person can commit a murder rampage to fellow human beings and then kill himself afterwards. The devil might have really tightened his reigns on him.

In a larger sense, the issue is beyond gun-control as what those politically correct advocates would harp about. It is a malaise in a society and culture which has put God and Christian faith at the backseat of human endeavors. And just maybe, the reason that this gruesome tragedy happened is because modern people are more inclined to look at his fellow human being as an object instead as soul that needed to be saved, a person that needed help, a brother that should have been taught the value of life (his and others) and potential friend that needs a shoulder to cry on.

As I grieve with those families who lost their beloved in the murders. I’m also angry, not to the killer, but for the teachers, parents and peers who have known that Cho Seung-Hui was a psychologically troubled teen and tended to ignore him as such. There was no significant move to help him, enlighten, encourage and motivate him. They’d rather leave him alone with his hatred on society or whatever that is in him that led him to kill. The post analysis of him is a typical reaction from a society that seeks answers on the Why’s a person committed an evil act rather than the How’s that would help to prevent a person to commit one. We are becoming a culture of reactive people rather than a culture of proactive ones.

I can imagine the pain of losing loved ones whose lives were puffed out without sense. But I can also imagine the pain of our Lord as he receives the souls of those who died and the grief He had to endure for losing one to the darkside.

People may die because of choices others make and equally for choices other did not make. It was Cho Seung-Hui choice to kill and it was Society’s choice to ignore him.

Which leads me on a an email message I received today which is quite reflective about the tragedy that happened in Virgina Tech, not so much for the Cho Seung-Hui but for us, society as a whole…..read on.

The LIFEBOAT

Annie was a large, rather unattractive girl.
Actually, Annie was fat.
A member of a youth group, Annie regularly attended most of
the youth functions and Bible studies. During one of those meetings,
the youth leader introduced a situational learning game called, "The
Lifeboat." He instructed the dozen high school kids present to form
their chairs to resemble the seating on a lifeboat. Then he
said, "You twelve are the only survivors of a shipwreck. You have
managed to make it to this lifeboat.

Once you are aboard, however, you find to your horror that there are
only provisions for eleven. Also, the boat can hold only eleven
survivors.

Twelve people will capsize the boat, leaving you all to drown. You
must decide what to do." The group stared blankly at each other for a
few moments before bursting into lively discussion. They decided that
for the good of the majority of the members of the group, one
person must be sacrificed. But who?

As the group discussed who would be left to drown, they eliminated
various individuals perceived to be of value to the survivors. The
strongest and most athletic boys couldn't be sacrificed ¬ their
strength would be needed to row. Naturally, the boys wouldn't think
of letting any of the pretty girls become shark food. Slowly each
individual in the group, with the exception of Annie, was mentioned
and then discarded as a candidate for sacrifice. Some were too
smart, too talented, or too popular.

Finally, Annie, who may not have been attractive but who was
not dumb, blurted out, "I'll jump."

"No, no!" protested the group. But when pressed, they
couldn't think of one good reason why she shouldn't jump ¬ so they
remained silent. When the time to play the game ran out, the group
members announced that they couldn't reach a decision on what to
do. The youth worker went on to teach a lesson using the example of
the lifeboat. But Annie had already learned a lesson. The next day,
Annie jumped. Her youth group had affirmed her worst thought about
herself.

She was of no value. Her "friends" in the youth group were
baffled and deeply saddened by her suicide. After all, she had so
much to live for.

They just couldn't think of what it was.

We rarely look below the surface to see the worth of a person.
Instead, we too often equate a person's value with looks,
popularity, possessions, or abilities. If none of those things is
obvious, then we see no value at all in that individual. But every
human being was created in God's image and is loved by Him. In fact,
He loved us so much that He sent His only Son to sacrifice Himself
for us.