Words. How can I put into words what we have experienced at Virginia Tech? How can I communicate the depth of the hurt and the beauty of the first steps of God's healing? It seems impossible to even begin. Yet it was often with words that Jesus, the Living Word, has sustained us this week. Each day there were different phrases, different words, which provided pictures of all that God was walking us through.
Monday, April 16—“It's not about us.” Still reeling from the shock of the shootings, our staff began to prepare for an evening gathering in our BCM Center for students to talk, pray, and encourage one another. People pulled together so quickly. A couple other campus ministries joined us that night. Churches (primarily Cambria, Northstar, and Blacksburg Baptist) brought food and people to serve. Jimmy Via (our BCM Director at Radford) and Mark Appleton (our Associate Director at Virginia Tech BCM) were ready to lead a time of worship and prayer. Two Virginia Baptist crisis care counselors were on the scene by the time the event started.
As everyone got settled in, I began to wonder if any of the 300+ plus students would utilize these counselors – Do I have them in the right place? What if no students come to visit them? Apologetically I said to Gerri McDaniel, one of the chaplains, “I don't know how the students will respond; I'd hate for you to travel here and not be utilized.”
For the first of multiple times that night, Gerri said to me, “That's okay. It's not about us.” As those first days passed, our staff understood more of what she meant. It was not about us because the most important needs to be met were those of students and families close to the tragedy, not the needs of those preparing to serve. We were just a tiny fraction of all the people being used to point the campus toward healing. By the end of that evening, it was confirmed that our BCM students had lost a close friend, graduate student and BCMer Brian Bluhm. As we could only imagine the pain that his family must have encountered that night, indeed it was not about us.
Tuesday, April 17 — “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” I shared this verse (Psalm 34:18) with many people Tuesday and Wednesday after it was sent to me in an email by Jody Faig, our Human Resources Associate for the VBMB. That verse was basically all there was to the email. No commentary was needed. Thanks, Jody.
Wednesday, April 18 — “The Body of Christ” – I am in awe of the network of support with which Virginia Baptists are ministering on this campus. Disaster relief workers, students, campus employees, VBMB staff, local church staff members and laypeople, and BSU/BCM alumni have all been a part of our extended team this week. The hands and feet of Jesus have gone out with many names this week and it is a joy to see so many serve so well.
Thursday, April 19 — “The media is not the enemy.” These words came to me from Dr. Al Meredith, pastor of Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas. The shootings that occurred at Wedgwood Sept. 15, 1999, saw seven precious lives lost. Earlier on Thursday, multiple students told me that they were fed up with the media. They decried the speed with which some cast blame on the Virginia Tech administration. They were also upset by episodes of insensitivity shown by cameramen toward those grieving at the monuments around the drillfield.
After I shared the frustration, Al shared his own desire to be a blessing to people in the media and praying for them in the midst of their difficult jobs. I saw things differently the rest of the week and had some positive exchanges with the media. Though their numbers were decreasing, there were still countless opportunities to encounter reporters. Various students resonated with this idea when I shared with them that vision of responding to reporters with an attitude that holds forth kindness and God's grace.
Friday, April 20 — “Go Tigers…” Some of our BSU/BCM alumni and friends from Blacksburg Baptist served a late breakfast to students. While the breakfast was still going on, a donation of 200 Detroit Tigers hats arrived. Brian Bluhm was a tremendous fan of the Tigers and the idea came about for our BCM students to wear Tiger hats around campus in his memory. We're hoping students have a chance to share with others that they miss their friend Brian, who loved the Tigers and loved God. May those words and other words spoken by our students bear fruit on this campus in the coming days of healing. In so many ways, they already are …
Darrell Cook is Baptist campus minister at Virginia Tech.