Tragedy
April 18th, 2007
These past few days as details of the shootings at Virginia Tech have been unfolding, this song by U2 keeps coming into my head. It’s called Wake Up Dead Man. The verse starts out like this:
Jesus, Jesus help me
I’m alone in this world
And a fucked up world it is too
Tell me, tell me the story
The one about eternity
And the way it’s all gonna be
And the last verse:
Jesus, were you just around the corner?
Did you think to try and warn her?
Or are you working on something new?
If there’s an order in all of this disorder
Is it like a tape recorder?
Can we rewind it just once more?
The gritty distortion in the vocals and the uncharacteristic use of profanity communicate both a hard-edged accusation and yet desperate plea to God to intervene in world twisted by evil. It reminded me of the lament in Psalm 13:
How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
Jen and I have some friends at Viriginia Tech, in fact whom we visited on our cross-country trip out to L’Abri last summer. Though relieved to find out that they were not among those who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time on Monday, our hearts and our prayers go out to those who lost friends and family this week.