A Prayer for Virginia Tech

Lord,

I pray for the Virginia Tech community, and particularly those who have been most directly devastated by yesterday's rampage. Trying to come to grips with the monumental nature of the tragedy is far beyond my abilities. I and many others have lots of questions about what happened and why, and it is in our nature to want almost instant answers. The parents and others who have lost loved ones are probably more entitled to these answers than anyone else. I pray that in your loving timing, you might comfort the grieving by giving them enough answers to find some rest in their souls. At the convocation today and in subsequent ceremonies, equip our leaders and speakers to say the right words and strike the right tone for the benefit of the grieving and the nation at large. Equip your church to minister well to the university community. I thank you that a number of good churches like Grace Covenant PCA have already been places of comfort and support for many in Blacksburg. Your church is full of imperfections and too often brings shame to your Name. But thankfully, your church often redeems itself in times of tragedy, and I pray that it would be so again in these sad days. Through your church, let the families and the university community know something pure and good about your love for them, so that there might be encouragement in the midst of despair, light in the midst of darkness, love in the midst of hate, and peace in the midst of chaos. Empower us to love well and grieve well.

Lastly, I pray for our nation. I fear that we as a nation have already lost sight of the main thing, and are degenerating into familiar finger-pointing, rumor-mongering, and political exploitation and opportunism. More than ever, our nation seems to lack a shared purpose, and this event brutally highlights it. On message boards, blogs, TV shows and newspaper columns, the bickering and animosity between us has already begun. We can't even grieve together as a nation anymore without taking our familiar places on the stage and breaking down into camps of mutual dislike. The victims families deserve better from us. Instill in us the ability to keep the main thing the main thing by forcing us to remember our own corporate responsibilities to those most directly affected, as well as our larger responsibilities to the ongoing health of our society. Make us understand that gooping up this horrible event with political talking points is not merely a gross insult to the families and university community, it also greatly exacerbates their pain and anguish. For their sakes, give us the discipline and the caring spirit to set our own baggage aside for the time being in order to embrace our fellow citizens who have lost loved ones and to simply cry with them. They deserve that from us, and we should be exceedingly willing to give it to them. Let the victims see something of your love and care in how we as a society mourn with them.

I ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.