God send your mercy this way

News: Gunman targets students at Northern Illinois University
*note* if the link doesn't work, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/; it's their lead story. I'm sure every other U.S. paper is running it today

This breaks my heart. I found out about it last night when a friend invited me to a prayer facebook group for the victims and I literally started crying. There is no difference between 21 and 32. Those 21 have friends and family, as do all the other students at NIU who are dealing with this now. I would never wish upon anyone the fear that I felt last April when I first heard about Virginia Tech. I was in Germany, and I heard about 6 p.m., so noon in the States, and for fifteen mintues I felt sick to my stomach, completely terrified. Every person I knew at Tech flashed through my head, even if I had only met them briefly through my cousin Jesse. And Jesse...hearing my mom telling me that everyone I knew was okay was, I think, the most relieving sentence I heard all of last year.

Oh goodness, I'm going to make myself cry again. If you have any links whatsoever to someone at NIU, I'm praying for you. If you have no links to NIU or Virginia Tech and have no conception of what I am describing, I hope you never have to experience it. But everyone has lost someone dear to them, everyone has been afraid, and I'm sure everyone has, at one point, felt their entire world shatter in an instant. This song from "The Season," written around April 16, is what I have to offer:

"Forever Changed VT"

On just an ordinary day

A weapon drawn and lives forever changed

One act of violence made the world stop and watch

And on a drill field by candlelight we prayed

The questions on our minds

We wonder where the future lies

As we look up to heaven

With hope in our eyes

Where do we go from here?

Can we overcome this fear?

And find healing through the pain

And see the sun beyond the rain

We've got the strength to endure

And soon we'll feel more secure

In a world filled with hate

We need to become something great

Oh God, send your mercy this way

For we're all Hokies today

And to the ones who fell that day

In our hearts your love will never fade away

Picking up the pieces to build a better tomorrow

We'll find the joy, yes, to move on from the sorrow

By the colors of the leaves

You know God has us on His mind

So we look up to heaven

With hope in our eyes

Where do we go from here?
Can we overcome this fear?
And find healing through the pain

And see the sun beyond the rain

We've got the strength to endure

And soon we'll feel more secure

In a world filled with hate

We need to become something great

Oh God, send your mercy this way

For we're all Hokies today

The spirit lives on

Don't let it be gone

Let it shine forever

And through the heartbreak

For the lost and their sake

Let it bring us together

Where do we go from here?

Can we overcome this fear?

And find healing through the pain
And see the sun beyond the rain
We've got the strength to endure
And soon we'll feel more secure
In a world filled with hate
We need to become something great
Oh God, send your mercy this way
For we're all Hokies today