Remembering

I will never forget where I was or what I was doing on April 16, 2007. My husband and I had taken our daughter on a college visit to James Madison University in Harrisonburg. It was a beautiful day, and we were surrounded by hundreds of other hopeful young adults and their families exploring the possibility that this large state university might become a new home. We had been checking out the bookstore when I received a call from my sister in Kansas.

I was about to tell her all about our adventure that day when she stopped me short with the news of the tragic shootings in Blacksburg at Virginia Tech. At the time no one realized the full extent of the massacre. By the end of the day, 32 students and faculty members were counted among the dead. My husband and I had spent four years working with students at Tech as campus ministers in the late 80s so my sister knew we would be especially shaken by the news.

Like so many others I was shocked, stunned, and deeply saddened. I still am today as I reflect on the senseless loss of lives and the horrific grief that continues to paralyze so many families and friends. Each year, we pause at this time to remember and reflect and to honor the memory of all those who died that day. This week we recall not only those who lost their lives in Blacksburg, Virginia but indeed all who have died as a result of violence.

In a particular way we remember the victims of the Holocaust as the Jewish community observes Yom Hashoah Ve-Hagevurah— in Hebrew literally translated as the “Day of (remembrance of) the Holocaust and the Heroism.” This year Yom Ha’Shoah begins on the evening of Wednesday, April 15 and ends in the evening of Thursday, April 16. Whether grieving the loss of individuals or lamenting the genocide of entire communities as occurred in Nazi concentration camps, we come together for mutual support and spiritual solidarity.

George Santayana reminds us in his now famous quote that “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” This Thursday we are invited to gather together at Friendship Circle at 12 noon to remember the past in somber reflection. We will call to mind those men, women, and children who died as innocent victims at the hands of violent perpetrators. We will honor their memory by prayerfully committing ourselves to be people of peace, reconciliation, and healing in our own families, on our own campus, and in our own communities. Please join us either by participating in the vigil or by taking time in your day for quiet remembrance and peaceful prayer.

Peace, Anne