Like many of you, I struggle to come to terms with the unspeakable tragedy of the shooting deaths yesterday at Virginia Tech. Questions abound, many of which cannot be answered well. Could the administration and campus and town police have responded better? (Think of the extreme stress they were under!) How can it be that an individual could have such rage that he would target groups of people he didn't even know? How can it be that we allow someone like that to get his hands on a gun?

There were so many students killed, and there are so many students at Tech from across Virginia, that surely there will be mourning in every community of our Commonwealth.

In the days to come there will be heroism among the healers in the Virginia Tech community. Pray for the campus pastors, the medical professionals, the counselors, and others whose job is healing.

I was impressed by the editorial in the Daily Press this morning. It encourages me to repeat what I've often said. Catastrophe can strike at any moment during any "ordinary day" -- caused by a physical illness, or an accident, or an act of violence, or even a fall -- and so, there is no such thing as an "ordinary" day. Each day is a precious gift from God. Who knows if we will be given another?

Spend time in the present. Love each other.