I know there are plenty of people blogging about this tragedy right now so I will only say a few things.
I stayed plugged in to NPR all day yesterday. I just couldn't believe what I was hearing. Today, I spent some time looking at profiles of some of the victims. It just makes me so unbelievably sad. So many young people. And so many professors.
I think that is what really moves me the most. I work at a junior college and I have often wondered I would do if something happened. The most likely emergency would be an earthquake. But we have had our share of disgruntled students and transients. I want to believe that I am the type of person who would help protect students and get people out of the building. The newspaper coverage of yesterday's tragedy said that at least one of the professors died guarding the door to his classroom so that his students could flee. Would I have that kind of courage? Something tells me that I wouldn't. I would probably end up cowering under my desk or trying to break a window to get out. But I guess you never know until you are in that situation. In the meantime, we are left with nothing but questions.
My prayers go out to the families and loved ones of the victims.
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This event is also making me reflect on what Malady is talking about. As some of you already know, Malady and I just started a blog about faith. We're reading the first book of "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis, in which he discusses the idea of Moral Law, if it really exists, and why the Moral Law drives people to do certain things.
Lewis says each of us would experience two impulses in Malady's example:
1. to put ourselves in harm's way to save others
2. to keep ourselves safe and get out of the building
Most of us would feel a much greater impulse to keep ourselves safe. However, Lewis says the Moral Law would likely do something to overpower the weaker impulse of saving others in extreme situations.
How could we feel such a genuine desire to put ourselves in danger? We're still early in the book, so I'm not sure yet if Lewis has an answer. What seems to be important, however, is to take the time to gain clarity about yourself as you move through the course of each day. Observe your feelings and reactions to the rights and wrongs you see. Doing so will make a tremendous difference in how you act during a time when it really counts.
Please hop over to our blog at www.thruthewardrobe.blogspot.com to discuss these and related topics with us.
Thank you, Malady, for calling attention to this tragic event.
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