How to Help the Virginia Tech Family

Here are some simple actions you can take to help and support those recovering from the shootings at Virginia Tech; if you know of others, please share by commenting:

Virginia Tech family members all over the country have declared Friday, April 20, an "Orange and Maroon Effect" day. They invite everyone in the country to wear orange and maroon to support the school, community and family members of the victims.

Ask your local bookstore to host a reading of poetry and prose about healing from violence, and pass a hat around for donations. Send the money to the Safe Schools for Kids Virginia Tech Fund.
Ask your civic leaders to organize a candlelight vigil in your town.

Download the sign, created by blogger Nicco.org to show support for Virginia Tech. Print it out and post it in your car or home window, or on a community bulletin board.

Post your condolences online.

Suggest to your local high school that they invite a speaker from Rachel's Challenge to address students about alternatives to violence. Rachel's Challenge was founded by Columbine High School shooting survivor Craig Scott to honor his sister, who was killed in that tragedy.

Ask local businesses to donate a portion of their proceeds on a given day to the Virginia Tech Family Fund, University Development, 902 Prices Fork Road, Blacksburg, VA 24061.

The Real News at Virginia Tech

Like all of you, I've been watching the terrible sadness unfolding day by day at Virginia Tech. But I am most troubled by the turn the coverage took yesterday, an endless examination of the shooter and his "motives" -- including, now, photos and video -- as if it will provide us with a reason, something that actually makes sense. We need so badly to believe that we can recognize grief before it reaches us, that we can assess and contain madness, that we can prevent tragedies of all kinds. We now know that this young man was mentally ill; is this news? Didn't we know this the minute we heard about the incident?

We convince ourselves that by studying circumstances, we can avoid or alter them in the future. But this strategy requires identifying What Went Wrong, including placing blame. We hear "experts" argue about campus security, mental health screening, gun control, police procedure. But there are two sides to all of these issues for a reason: making changes to any or all of them still won't guarantee our safety. And that is a conclusion our controlling culture just can't bear.

What if we simply accepted that these things happen, beyond reason or regulation? What if we skipped over the endless analysis of a person whose behavior is beyond our understanding and focused, instead, on the flip side of tragedy? On the flip side are stories of loving relationships, of inspired lives and deep friendship, of bravery and compassion and the kindness of strangers. Imagine if, out of every event of this nature, we got 'round the clock coverage of these things, an opportunity to bask in all that is right with our world.

One person unleashed a terrible thing at Virginia Tech; as a result, millions are showing the blinding beauty of humanity at its best.