Hope Through Tragedy

The tragic university school shootings at Virginia Tech that left 32 people dead, 33 including the killer, was a shocking and terrible loss. It is unfathomable how anyone could be filled with such anger and hatred as to shoot innocent people at random. I could not view the violent images of the killer aired on the news channel for they were so disturbing.
I can only begin to imagine what agonizing grief the families of the victims face. Every person killed was a vibrant life ended too soon. There were so many hopes and dreams in the lives of those students lost. There were visions of a better tomorrow and a passion for education in those teachers killed.
Many of those killed were young students whose parents had devoted all they had for their children. As a parent myself, I can understand how parents must feel in such a tragedy. From birth through childhood and then as a young adult, parents identify with every sorrow and joy of their children. Parents have numerous dreams and aspirations for their child. The youth enter college with so many opportunities and a bright future ahead. Yet these 32 Virginia student’s lives were cut off so abruptly and mercilessly.
Is there any hope in such a tragedy? Is there any way to cope with such grief? God feels the heartache and sees every teardrop fall. “. . . Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?” (Psalms 56:8). He can be the source of comfort and strength to endure heartache. There is hope for the future. Jesus will return one day soon and wipe every tear away and there will be no more sorrow or grief. “. . . God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away” (Rev. 21:4). Remember that God is our comforter and friend, and it is He that will one day soon end all the heartache and suffering of this world.
Cynthia Ly Lan Nguyen