Sunday April 20, 2003

Columbine High School Anniversary

I don't know if the news people still mention the significance of this day. It's been quite a while (four years to be exact) since the Columbine shooting happened, and considering the state of the world today, perhaps they have other things to talk about. But this day is very important to me, so I will talk about it.

I remember coming home from school and seeing video of high school kids running from their school building, passing blood-stained sections of pavement on their way to safety. At that time all I though was, Here we go again, another day, another shooting. It troubled and saddened me, but no more than any other news story. As time passed, though, I began to learn more and more about the people killed at the school, and my life became more preoccupied with the events of that day.

The first person I learned about was Cassie Bernall. The media hyped up her story as a modern-day martyr who was shot for saying that she believed in God. I don't know if that actually happened. Honestly, I don't care... because the story of her life is much more important than the story of her last minutes.

Cassie was a girl whose turbulent adolescence was filled with anger, hatred, resentment, and violence. She hated just about everyone and everything, and could have very well shot up a high school herself. But after starting high school, she found a friend who gave her a reason to let all of that anger go. His name was God.

Rachel Joy Scott was another Columbine victim. She was a believer her whole life. But unlike some of the other Christians around her, the faith she had was one built upon forgiveness, love, and service; not power, control, or vengeance. She dreamed about starting a chain reaction of kindness that would touch people all around the world, which is exactly what happened after she was killed on April 20th. This is one of her scribbles:

About 11 months before she was killed, she wrote in her journal: This will be my last year, Lord. Thank you, I have gotten what I can. She knew what would be demanded of her, and she was still thankful for her life.

There were 13 other people who died that day, all of them with families and friends that miss them right now. But it's these two girls whose stories ignited my soul to start looking for the God they believed in. I didn't find him in religion, nor did I find him in church. I found him in the testimony of these teenagers who were gunned down at their high school, after they had both found a faith worth dying for.