We remember NIU

"Always Remember ... Never Forget." It was two years ago today that a young man entered a NIU classroom and began shooting. He killed five persons, and himself. He left around twenty individuals injured. It was a horrific and sad day not only for NIU, but really the community of DeKalb.

I remember being in the hospital E.R. as the students and the families began to arrive. The first parents that came in (whom I realized later were the parents of one of the deceased) had such a horrified and pained look on their face. I will never forget the look of agony they had. Parents and students were overwhelmed with shock, disbelief, and grief.

When parents send their kids to college, it is with the assumption that this is a safe place. They might drink too much at their first party and have a hangover the next day. That's the worse that could happen. Being the victim of such blunt violence is not even on the horizon.

The young man who was the shooter, it is had to perceive what was really going on in his mind. We can hypothesize all we want but will never really know or understand the hows or the whys. Such brokenness is so deep and sorely misunderstood.

When we talk about Sin and Evil, it's not just about stealing a candy bar, or a scene from the Exorcist. It is much more complex than that. Our human lives can become so disjointed as to confuse right and wrong, and injure others in the process.

Hardly a week goes by that I do not think about the shooting. Whethter I am on the campus, in the hospital, hear an ambulance go by, the events that day remain haunting. I always pray for those young people, but also for an end of violence, as well as healing. Our thoughts and prayers are always with the NIU community and their families.