Bad Things Happen

Bad things happen, and from time to time, they happen on college campuses. In Nov. 99, twelve students died in the collapse of a bonfire on the campus of Texas A&M. At the time, I was struck by this tragedy. I wrote:

When tragedy strikes, people of faith are called upon to respond to tough questions. "God, why do bad things happen to good people?" One thing that can be certain is that the Christian God is a suffering God. Many times in the ministry of Jesus, He was moved by compassion. (See the gospel of Matthew, Chapter 9, verse 36). In our tragedies and sorrows, God suffers along with us….until that day when…"He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." Rev. 21:4.

Eric Stanford contributed a great article to a special report we published at the time, in it he wrote:

There’s nothing like the sudden death of the young to punch a hole in our papier-mâché "reality."

* In a world where medical advances are announced daily and life expectancy is stretching like a rubber band . . .
* In a world where the economy has been so strong for so long that it’s calling into question the very idea of "economic cycles" . . .
* In a world where we have more ways to distract ourselves (Discman, Nintendo, satellite TV, on and on) than ever before . . .
* In that sort of a world, we can easily become insulated from what’s really real. The padding muffles the sounds, softens the edges. We are anesthetized.

Life is for real. This is the real thing. People don’t always get that, anymore. And then the young die suddenly.

These are some of the thoughts swirling around in the aftermath of yesterday’s tragic shooting on the campus of Virginia Tech University. The media is demanding the answers to other questions: Can gun control prevent this kind of violence? Are campus officials to blame for not issuing an earlier warning?

I am reminded that all around the world, particularly in war zones, mass casualties are happening every day. People died on our nation’s highways over the weekends (this happens week in and week out in America). Storms and flooding claimed lives in the last few days.

I have no answers. Just a sadness and a desire for God’s kingdom to come, on earth, as it is in heaven.