4/20/07

I have not completely processed my thoughts and emotions regarding the recent shootings at Virginia Tech, but I needed to write what I have discerned. 

Yesterday I received an email from a former colleague. I was his assistant at my first school before moving on to run my own band program. One of the Virginia Tech victims was a student who was in his band a few years after I left, while her father was stationed at the local naval base. It seems she was a truly special person and one of my colleague’s favorites. Having a former student die is an excruciating experience and is one I personally never find easier to endure. To have a student senselessly murdered is unimaginable. I hope there is a bigger reason for this event, which goes beyond human understanding. I hope Gideon needed another trumpet player and has this new angel playing first part. Unfortunately my deepest being tells me this was simply the random act of a psychopath, who has free will to destroy, just as others have a free will to create.     
 
Predictably, societal analysis in the American and world media, living rooms, and public conversations has already begun, with the usual questions being asked; what is wrong with American society? Why are gun laws so lax? Why are gun laws so tight? Why is America so violent? The fact the shooter was Korean has prompted more immigration debate. On my own campus, we are preparing for the next round of lock down drills. Whatever analysts, preachers, or politicians might surmise, I think answer is fairly simple; the world is fucked up, has always been fucked up, and always will be fucked up. I hope the aftermath of this tragedy shows a way to improve our society, but I fear America will be blinded by B.S. (Blame and Subpoenas.)   Although in dire need of improvement, I reject the notion of some that America is especially violent or troubled when compared to the rest of the world. I’ve read examples of European commentary degrading Americans as a bunch of gun-wielding cowboys, as if their own society was some sort of continental utopia. Apparently, these writers have conveniently forgotten about Bosnia, Northern Ireland, and The Holocaust. What we have here is a human problem.  
 
The world is fucked up, always has been fucked up and always will be fucked up, but it is up to us to find and create joy in spite of that. My lesson from Virginia Tech is to find joy each day and to be kind each day, in case that day is my last.