The Broken And The Brave

When night falls, and the weight of this broken world presses us to the ground, every word, every glance, every breath takes on new meaning and significance. And when death tolls we become, in life's greatest irony, fully alive. We are either alive without hope or alive with confidence that outlasts the grave. But in either case we are more aware than ever of the fragility of life and the value of a single moment in time.

For those of us who follow Jesus, the truths we have professed through life either crumble beneath us, having never fully taken root in our souls, or become living fiber that literally holds us together from second to second. Songs we have sung in brighter days either still in silence or awaken with thundering resolve.

That was certainly the case Saturday night as hundreds of students gathered on Henderson Lawn, a sloping hillside nestled on the corner Virginia Tech where the campus meets Blacksburg's tiny college drag. They came together for vtOne, an event uniting all the Believers at Tech in worship and prayer and the only large student-led event sanctioned by the school since the shootings. Led by students, vtOne is all about God being glorified at Tech. And though many had just returned to campus from attending the funerals of their friends, they wanted more than anything to have the chance to worship and pray together before the semester came to a close. In what I consider one of the greatest privileges of my life, I was invited to speak to them and pastor them during this night. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I wanted to mourn with them and remind them that Virginia Tech will live again.

Driving into Blacksburg I was reminded again of the stunning beauty that this place holds. The campus stands against the backdrop of a mountainous curtain that changes with the seasons, and it's grey stone buildings and open grassy fields embody strength and grace. And spirit...do they ever have spirit...Hokie pride that pervades the university and community. But all that was shattered two weeks ago and though still proud, little slivers of grief, death and loss litter the campus.

When I arrived, three students walked the campus with me and in a heartbeat a tragic news story became a living nightmare, senseless reality everywhere before my eyes. As we headed toward Norris Hall where most of the shooting took place, Tony, a Resident Advisor in the dorm adjacent to West Ambler Johnston started talking about his friend Mary Read. A freshman from Virginia, full of life and energized by her relationship with Jesus, Mary had just changed her online profile on that fateful Monday to Psalm 34:18, "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit." Tears filled my eyes. For one, I could hear Tony's voice shake as he spoke of someone he loved, and two, that verse was one of two specific passages God had impressed on my heart as I was preparing for my time there. And what for Mary was possible the last verse she wrote on earth was the very truth to which so many now cling in the wake of her death.

Standing near Norris everything grew still. Being there with students who could point to the broken-windowed classrooms where their friends faced death was one of the most gut-wrenching moments of my life. For now the building is a silent memorial, it's future unclear. Some think it will one day be razed, yet some students I talked to hoped it would be renamed Librescu Hall in honor of the valiant Holocaust survivor and professor who barricaded his classroom door in an attempt to save his students lives at the cost of his. From there we walked beyond the administration building to a makeshift memorial, then across campus to the very hallway in Ambler Johnston West where it all began. It wasn't an onlooker's tour of the gruesome scene, but a walk of remembrance as these students talked about those who had died, their memories of them in life and their hopes for the future of Virginia Tech.

Later that night the lawn began to fill and a band comprised of musicians from all the major Christian groups on campus played. Song after song took on a completely different light...and none more powerfully that the Australian chorus "Mighty To Save." I've sung that song in many places around the globe, but never were the words more poignant and powerful than in the midst of a hurting student body as they sang, "Savior, He can move the mountains, our God is mighty to save, He is might to save. Forever, author of salvation, He rose and conquered the grave, Jesus conquered the grave!" I'm not sure any song has ever been more potently sung, their hands raised in worship even with the memory of the grave so fresh in their minds. Yet they sang with the certainty of resurrection firm beneath their feet, and though still bearing the shock of grief and confusion, they were eager to profess in open spaces their love for the One who crushed death's power and offers life and light to all.

That's the generation we are so honored to serve. They're not perfect, nor are they fearless. Yet when the moment came and the worst mass shooting in our nation's history rocked their campus to the core they were the ones leading with truth and compassion, and what a sight it was...Henderson Lawn filled with the anthem of the broken and the brave.

Please don't forget the students of Virginia Tech. For out of the ashes glimmers of hope are already beaming.