NIU

Another school shooting. Yesterday afternoon - Valentine's Day - at Northern Illinois University, a young man, a graduate student in sociology, walked into a classroom auditorium and opened fire then shot himself. A mirror image of the Viriginia Tech shooting last April, but this one so close to home. I know that campus. I did graduate work there. I know that building - though it is used primarily for undergraduate classes. I took the GMAT in that auditorium. It is stranger to think of this situation when you can really picture where it all occurred, unlike the Viriginia Tech incident, a campus I am totally unfamiliar with.

My heart goes out to those students who were there - who were shot, hurt, escaped. I feel for their parents, who heard the reports and must have felt so anxious for news of their child. I am grateful for the quick action of campus security - reports are that they were on the scene in 3 minutes from the first gun shots - and for the wisdom of the administration to alert the campus and lock things down until the situation was under control and needs assessed.

My prayers go out to all those touched by this event. I pray that they all may know the infinte love of our Father-Mother God. That each individual will feel Her tender arms comforting and embracing her/him in this strange moment. That everyone will feel loved, supported, strengthened by the infinite resources of divine Soul.

The images on the news show a campus uniting to help one another, to comfort and support however needed. That to me is a symbol of supreme Love's presence right there in the heart of what probably feels like a mess to those on campus. Some of the first messages of love and support came from students, faculty and administration at Virginia Tech. I am sure all campuses learned much from the VT incident, and I am grateful to see evidence of that in Thursday's shooting at NIU.

"Life and goodness are immortal." (Science and Health 246:28) The goodness that each of those students embodied goes on eternally, I believe. That is what is lasting and does last, no matter what the material picture may be. And this statement must be true for that shooter as well.

I heard a comment on the radio made by one student, something to the effect that it is too bad more people are wanting their final and lasting statement to be a mass shooting. It is sad that this thought may be creeping in. It can't be the final and lasting impression of that young man with the guns for his family and friends. I am sure he had friends - they were mentioned in one news report. And they were totally shocked by this action. All that can last of him is the good that he did.

It can seem difficult to pray for someone who committed such an act, but somehow that is where my prayers go first at these times - and for these individuals' families. It just seems like they need lots of extra love and protection in these situations. I know that God continues to love them and there son/grandson/brother/nephew/etc. That doesn't change. And it will support them through the next days, weeks, months as these events are sorted out.

Right now, this hymn - #278 in the Christian Science Hymnal:

Pilgrim on earth, home and heaven are within thee,
Heir of the ages and child of the day.
Cared for, watched over, beloved and protected,
Walk thou with courage each step of the way.

Truthful and steadfast though trials betide thee,
Ever one thing do thou ask of thy Lord,
Grace to go forward, wherever He guide thee,
Gladly obeying the call of His word.

Healed is thy hardness, His love hath dissolved it,
Full is the promise, the blessing how kind;
So shall His tenderness teach thee compassion,
So all the merciful, mercy shall find.