Tragedy

Last night, tragedy struck this rural small city when two of the high school students here were killed in a car-semi accident. I learned today that the driver of the car was being told by a mother whose husband had committed suicide as they talked on the phone, that the son better get the car home NOW or she would call the police to bring it home - and that was as the accident occurred! Another young man was on a cell phone with a female classmate at the time of impact. The car hit the semi, which then drove over the top of the car and spun it into the ditch. Two young men following pulled the backseat passengers from the wreckage, then called help for the two in the front seat as the car smolder. It burst into flames and was fully engulfed by the time help could arrive.

I was first notified of the accident by a staff member of our church, then called to be at the high school with other clergy and counselors to help students early this morning. I was the first clergy or counselor to arrive. We were briefed, and right after the first class session began, they began to arrive. Girls clutching one another as they wept in shock and grief, young men who either came in devastated by the loss of close friends and bawling out their disbelieving grief, or stony faced and glassy eyed in that same disbelieving grief.

Counselors and clergy, we offered the comfort of presence, the quiet voices of those who've dealt with death, grief and tragedy before. We shared our frustration at not being able to answer their frustrated, angry "WHY?!" We shared tears, and we shared laughter as they remembered two young men well able to light up a room with a joke or their presence. We listened to their recollections of students seeking a way through the dysfunction of our society. We marveled at the ways they reached out to one another - words like "I love you! You need me, you call me, do you hear? Anything, you call me. I'm hear for you!"

And I couldn't help but wonder, what if we could begin to face life that way as a nation - "I love you! I'm hear for you, whatever you need from me, I'm hear! Call me, I want to help you! I love you!" Wow! What a picture that would be for the world to contemplate! Love in action, love lived out between friends, neighbors, even strangers - because I didn't know most of those I offered help to on this day of tragedy, but offer I did, because that is what my faith calls me to do. I hope it makes a difference, that it will begin a chain of random acts of kindness and caring that will catch fire and spread across this little town struggling for survival, make it a place people will flock to in order to learn how to love this way.

There are many times that we are called to live idealism!! To know we are going to get hurt, scorned, ridiculed, and do it because it is right! Nothing more - no reward - no recognition - nothing but the knowledge that we did what was right when we needed to do it. Today was one. May we not wait until it is too late before we make this a pattern of behavior instead of an exception in our otherwise busy, race-through-life-with-the-blinders-on stress-filled days! May our children learn how valued they are, how much we love them, how proud we are of them - our children, our most valuable life's treasures - God's gift to us, on loan to train and give back.

Tears, sighs, hugs, silent-sitting-with presence. Peace!