Over There
Dear Constant Readers,
Here I am again, after another longer-than-one-week absence. If you are reading my notes on Facebook instead of on Blogger, then you perhaps saw my message that I was gone for a week in my status, that is if I remembered to say so. So, this blog then is then partially about last week.
A couple of weeks ago, Katrin invited me to go to a camp called Taize, in Southeast France, I think it was. Taize is an ecumenical Christian camp set up and established by a fraternity of Brothers who live there. So, that's about all I knew before going. I was again got the traveling jeebees and wasn't sure if I wanted to go, but then knew I'd feel bad later if I turned down this chance to travel around again, so I accepted the invitation. The day after Easter, armed with my backpack, some fruit, a sleeping bag, and "To Kill a Mockingbird" (the latter two items both supplied to me by Maren), I headed off in a bus trip with six other German people, roughly my age, and thus began the six hour trek to France.
The drive went surprisingly fast, considering how long it took to get there. We got to the camp safe and sound and then we got registered and/ or checked in. It was a large camp, and quite international, I think with 50 some countries represented sometimes, and room for some 2-3,000 souls. In my cabin, I was with 3 Germans, one French guy, and a Swiss fellow. In my guesstimation, probably 80-90% of the people there were German, so I certainly wasn't out of practice for my German.
This was the layout of the schedule: in the morning there was an hour long prayer service, which consisted of repeatedly singing a lot of short songs, readings, 10 minutes of silence, and then communion or blessed bread for whoever wanted it. Afterwards there was a simple breakfast. And then, in my schedule, I was free until midday prayer, which was all the same except for the communion, and then a simple lunch again. Afterwards, I had KP duty all week (everyone there was supposed to have some task to do) after which I went to my course (there was an option of three: I chose "The Last Seven Sentences of Jesus on the Cross") and then we broke up into groups to discuss some questions that were asked of us. After that, we had tea, which I also had KP for, and then free time until dinner and then evening prayer, which was just like the one before lunch.
When I first got there, frankly, the singingly annoyed the hell out of me. How many times can you sing the same damn song? They are only 30 seconds long apiece, yet they were repeated until they were full-length songs. But after a few times of singing, it started to grow on me. Some of the songs were quite beautiful (my favorite one was a Swedish one that went: Kristus, ande din ar en kalle med porlande vanten, "Christ, your spirit is a well of eternal water" I think is the translation...The melody sounded moving and a touch haunting) but some of them were still not so great.
There really was a peace to be found in the camp, though. I won't describe it in dramatic or sappy ways the way spirituality sometimes is, but it really was just a simple peace. It didn't feel like I was in France (I probably had the German language to thank for that)...the landscape was absolutely gorgeous, and I got some photos snapped off for Facebook, which I'll post later. One of the people in my conversation groups, a Finnish girl named Jen, described it best by saying "It's simple: just eating and praying," and that's what a lot of it was. The weather was beautiful, so in one's free time, they could find a place to sit by the pond or under a tree and think, or like what I did, read, and take pictures of grass.
I didn't feel that I made any close connections with anyone, though. I thought I might have, once: there was one person that I spoke with, a volunteer from Berlin who worked at the camp, and her and I talked a bit about theology (she had studied religion pedagogy), and I think we had a good talk, but ultimately, I don't know if I really met anyone who I will stay in touch with for a long time. Sometimes that happens, and I was hoping it would, here, too, but I guess it didn't. It wasn't all that surprising, but it was a bit disappointing. That's not to say I didn't meet people that I don't want to stay in touch with (there are a few who have my email address) but I didn't find a reciprocate of that connection...I guess is the best way to describe it. Or maybe I'm completely wrong and someone will contact me. Who knows.
Despite the number of Germans, I was surprised by the other countries represented: namely Sweden and Finland. A fellow from Australia made an interesting comment in saying that missionaries are now coming from Asia to do mission work in Europe. I said I hope they don't use the violence the Europeans did. To me, though, the presence of these countries was more impressive than the presence of all the Germans, all though that was noteworthy, as well. It was like a breath of fresh air for me, to find similarities in corners of the world I never really would have expected to see any in.
I was looking forward to coming home, though, by the end of the week. I missed my clean room, I missed hot showers, and good non-camp food and all that. And the internet. There I said it. The trip home wasn't much different from the way there, except for we were all much more comfortable with one another, and I even finished reading my book (it was excellent, by the way, check it out if you haven't read it before), but it still seemed to take longer. I was glad to be home again, but felt awkward, a bit like a fish out of water.
For a lot of reasons I felt like this. I suppose being at camp had something to do with it, but also, I felt like I somehow needed to get my life aligned somehow. I tried to express this to a couple of people, and the general consensus was that a) that's normal to feel that way, and b) that I think too much. To the first, I say, that's great, but then shouldn't normal feel...well, normal, and not like things are out of whack? We have instincts for a reason. Maybe I was just disoriented from coming home. Maybe the weather was too hot.
To the second, that I think too much...Probably, yes, sometimes. Or that I dwell on things too easily. I don't know. But I don't think I think too much, because I don't know any differently. In other words it's like saying someone breathes to much. Well, that's just what we do. And if something in my life feels off, then I'm probably bound to think about it a bit.
I think, also, this has something to do with it: When I came here, back in September, I was hoping I'd find a girlfriend, but nothing really developed, despite what some times when I thought it would, as I believe I've mentioned here before. Regarding who I am thinking of, we are still friends, to a degree at least. But there is a twinge of guilt, and I guess envy, when I think that she finds someone instead. I suppose it's normal to feel that way, but some people might say "Well, you had your chance, besides, it didn't feel right, what should you care?" Because, I'm still human, I say. I don't like feeling jealous, and I try to get on with my own life, and be happy, but sometimes it's like getting rained on. I can deal with it, but give me a chance to recover a bit. Part of me I guess would still wish things had worked out better between us, so when I see someone else in that position, I feel a little sour.
And I'm sure there's someone out there, or so I'm told, but she's hiding really well. Oli oli oxen free, do you exist? Now in my life is probably not the time for such notions, anyway. I don't want to sound dramatic. This is something I think about, but I don't think I'd go so far as to say I dwell on it anymore like I did a few years ago. I guess it's part of maturing.
A girlfriend/boyfriend is never a solution to a person's problems. Before they can be happy with someone else, they need to be happy with themselves. Other people can help them, but ultimately the individual needs to be strong; they cannot always depend on someone else supporting them. But I won't lie and say that sometimes I'm just flat out lonely. I have great friends, I have a spiritual life, I have a bit of adventure in my life, but sometimes I just feel like I want a hug. Doesn't everyone feel that way once in a while?
I am happy with my life, for the most part. Sometimes I'm sad, sometimes I'm lonely, sometimes I'm confused about what to do, or even dwell on too much negativity. Sometimes I can be too hard on myself. But overall I don't feel generally unhappy. I get overwhelmed and a bit panicky, but then things tend to work out. But I have the feeling that something is missing from it, and I cannot figure out what it is. I often have the feeling that I need to talk with people, because I hate having things on my chest. But my mind works like a bunch of little gears going and I think that it's wearing me down, and for all the flaws in my life, I can't solve them all, and I feel that that is the hand I have been dealt, that's what I have to work with. My happiness is a choice, not a ray of sunshine shining down. I have to work at it everyday, some days are better than others. At the moment I'm feeling a little down again, but that comes and goes, because humans aren't static. Joy is a gift, peace is a gift. Happiness is earned, I think. Like the man said, someone who looks for happiness will never find it, one who works to make help others will have happiness find him.
But, that still doesn't change the fact that I sometimes just want someone special to share my life with. When I look at some of my friends/classmates...they are in relationships, they are engaged, they are married...well, the latter two I personally would rather hold off on for a number of years, but with the first, I guess how does one not notice it sometimes? Sometimes when I think about it, though, I wonder if even it's even my thing. I've never been in a serious relationship, and don't really know the first thing about the commitment I've no doubt it takes. I have an idea about the qualities I'm looking for, but sometimes, I wonder if I'm being too picky, or if they are just qualities I like about myself; I tell myself it's just because I'd feel compatible with such a person, but I also think maybe it's me just getting a little full of myself. Still, though, ideas aren't bad to have when looking for someone.
What I probably ought to do is just forget the whole thing, and at least for the time being in Germany, I kind of have, because I'm going home in a few months anyway. I'm not sure I can ever totally forget it, though.
Well, anyway, I'm not really sure how I got on that...I took a break from writing this and came back a moment ago to work on the last few paragraphs.
I feel that it would be wrong of me to not mention at least a small opinion of what happened in Virginia yesterday. I felt kind of bad I was out of the country when this happened. I don't know why...I have the news coverage here, if I want it. I guess I feel a sense of loyalty...if a tragedy strikes, I guess I feel I should be there with the rest of the nation. I want to point something out, though, because this is a bit of a hard concept to grasp for some, I think. When we are at home and we see news of people dying in wars in countries where no one can pronounce the names, gee, that's too bad, but it's over there. Well, to me, I could just as well say Virginia is "over there." To many Germans, that is probably exactly the case. Most people will probably feel a vague sense of loss that I think is expressed well in this little ditty by John Donne, called "For Whom the Bell Tolls":
No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
Basically, what it means is, for me at least, if someone dies, even if I didn't know the person, I usually feel a vague emptiness, not quite a sadness always, but at least a vagueness at the extinction of a member of my species.
But it's over there...so tough luck, but it's on TV, so it might as well be on another planet.
This time it was at home, wasn't it? Not so "over there" now... This isn't a political message, I'm just trying to point out how small our world really is, and that what people here about in the papers isn't fiction. It is depersonalized, it is overwhelming, so we perhaps shut ourselves down to it, for our own survival...or out of fear of some kind...but it's *us*. I think more people need to realize this. I can't speak for other countries, but for America it's a bit harder, I think. There's still some isolationism that the internet cannot breach. We don't share a ton of borders, and our country is huge. I don't know what this realization would accomplish, but I doubt it would hurt much.
A friend of mine said that concealed weapons could have helped end this quicker, if students were allowed to carry them. And he's right, probably. Someone probably could have stopped the killer before he murdered so many people. But I don't think that concealed weapons are the answer. I won't deny they are the possible means to end crime in it's tracks while it's happening, but I also think that as a whole, people aren't ready for such a law. Speaking for myself, I would be uncomfortable with it. I'm not anti-guns, but I think the people who support this idea of concealed weapons are still in the minority. I'm not saying they're wrong, because I just don't know, but I think that until more average Joes agree that this would really help, I think the idea should not be implemented. We simply are not yet ready for it. Unfortunately, there may not be another answer, given the situation. There must be, but there very well may not be. Norway, for example, doesn't arm their police: armed police cause the criminals to feel they need to be packing, as well. But then again, Norway doesn't have the crime America has. But I can't help but feel this would stoke the fire somehow. And then again, if me or a loved one were in danger, and I could stop it, I wouldn't be pacifistic about it.
But I wasn't there. Maybe I should keep my two cents in my pocket, after all.
Anyway, I don't have much love for politics, on the giving or the receiving end, so I'm not going to continue on this. This is not what my blog is about. To be honest, when I write, sometimes I'm uncomfortable about all I say, but I think there are some universal themes in it, and hope that maybe someone reading it would find comfort somehow... Hmmm, that sounds really familiar. I may have already written that, so if I did, I guess I really mean it!
Anyway, that's it for me. Have a good one all! Hope all is well.
Sincerely,
Tristan
Here I am again, after another longer-than-one-week absence. If you are reading my notes on Facebook instead of on Blogger, then you perhaps saw my message that I was gone for a week in my status, that is if I remembered to say so. So, this blog then is then partially about last week.
A couple of weeks ago, Katrin invited me to go to a camp called Taize, in Southeast France, I think it was. Taize is an ecumenical Christian camp set up and established by a fraternity of Brothers who live there. So, that's about all I knew before going. I was again got the traveling jeebees and wasn't sure if I wanted to go, but then knew I'd feel bad later if I turned down this chance to travel around again, so I accepted the invitation. The day after Easter, armed with my backpack, some fruit, a sleeping bag, and "To Kill a Mockingbird" (the latter two items both supplied to me by Maren), I headed off in a bus trip with six other German people, roughly my age, and thus began the six hour trek to France.
The drive went surprisingly fast, considering how long it took to get there. We got to the camp safe and sound and then we got registered and/ or checked in. It was a large camp, and quite international, I think with 50 some countries represented sometimes, and room for some 2-3,000 souls. In my cabin, I was with 3 Germans, one French guy, and a Swiss fellow. In my guesstimation, probably 80-90% of the people there were German, so I certainly wasn't out of practice for my German.
This was the layout of the schedule: in the morning there was an hour long prayer service, which consisted of repeatedly singing a lot of short songs, readings, 10 minutes of silence, and then communion or blessed bread for whoever wanted it. Afterwards there was a simple breakfast. And then, in my schedule, I was free until midday prayer, which was all the same except for the communion, and then a simple lunch again. Afterwards, I had KP duty all week (everyone there was supposed to have some task to do) after which I went to my course (there was an option of three: I chose "The Last Seven Sentences of Jesus on the Cross") and then we broke up into groups to discuss some questions that were asked of us. After that, we had tea, which I also had KP for, and then free time until dinner and then evening prayer, which was just like the one before lunch.
When I first got there, frankly, the singingly annoyed the hell out of me. How many times can you sing the same damn song? They are only 30 seconds long apiece, yet they were repeated until they were full-length songs. But after a few times of singing, it started to grow on me. Some of the songs were quite beautiful (my favorite one was a Swedish one that went: Kristus, ande din ar en kalle med porlande vanten, "Christ, your spirit is a well of eternal water" I think is the translation...The melody sounded moving and a touch haunting) but some of them were still not so great.
There really was a peace to be found in the camp, though. I won't describe it in dramatic or sappy ways the way spirituality sometimes is, but it really was just a simple peace. It didn't feel like I was in France (I probably had the German language to thank for that)...the landscape was absolutely gorgeous, and I got some photos snapped off for Facebook, which I'll post later. One of the people in my conversation groups, a Finnish girl named Jen, described it best by saying "It's simple: just eating and praying," and that's what a lot of it was. The weather was beautiful, so in one's free time, they could find a place to sit by the pond or under a tree and think, or like what I did, read, and take pictures of grass.
I didn't feel that I made any close connections with anyone, though. I thought I might have, once: there was one person that I spoke with, a volunteer from Berlin who worked at the camp, and her and I talked a bit about theology (she had studied religion pedagogy), and I think we had a good talk, but ultimately, I don't know if I really met anyone who I will stay in touch with for a long time. Sometimes that happens, and I was hoping it would, here, too, but I guess it didn't. It wasn't all that surprising, but it was a bit disappointing. That's not to say I didn't meet people that I don't want to stay in touch with (there are a few who have my email address) but I didn't find a reciprocate of that connection...I guess is the best way to describe it. Or maybe I'm completely wrong and someone will contact me. Who knows.
Despite the number of Germans, I was surprised by the other countries represented: namely Sweden and Finland. A fellow from Australia made an interesting comment in saying that missionaries are now coming from Asia to do mission work in Europe. I said I hope they don't use the violence the Europeans did. To me, though, the presence of these countries was more impressive than the presence of all the Germans, all though that was noteworthy, as well. It was like a breath of fresh air for me, to find similarities in corners of the world I never really would have expected to see any in.
I was looking forward to coming home, though, by the end of the week. I missed my clean room, I missed hot showers, and good non-camp food and all that. And the internet. There I said it. The trip home wasn't much different from the way there, except for we were all much more comfortable with one another, and I even finished reading my book (it was excellent, by the way, check it out if you haven't read it before), but it still seemed to take longer. I was glad to be home again, but felt awkward, a bit like a fish out of water.
For a lot of reasons I felt like this. I suppose being at camp had something to do with it, but also, I felt like I somehow needed to get my life aligned somehow. I tried to express this to a couple of people, and the general consensus was that a) that's normal to feel that way, and b) that I think too much. To the first, I say, that's great, but then shouldn't normal feel...well, normal, and not like things are out of whack? We have instincts for a reason. Maybe I was just disoriented from coming home. Maybe the weather was too hot.
To the second, that I think too much...Probably, yes, sometimes. Or that I dwell on things too easily. I don't know. But I don't think I think too much, because I don't know any differently. In other words it's like saying someone breathes to much. Well, that's just what we do. And if something in my life feels off, then I'm probably bound to think about it a bit.
I think, also, this has something to do with it: When I came here, back in September, I was hoping I'd find a girlfriend, but nothing really developed, despite what some times when I thought it would, as I believe I've mentioned here before. Regarding who I am thinking of, we are still friends, to a degree at least. But there is a twinge of guilt, and I guess envy, when I think that she finds someone instead. I suppose it's normal to feel that way, but some people might say "Well, you had your chance, besides, it didn't feel right, what should you care?" Because, I'm still human, I say. I don't like feeling jealous, and I try to get on with my own life, and be happy, but sometimes it's like getting rained on. I can deal with it, but give me a chance to recover a bit. Part of me I guess would still wish things had worked out better between us, so when I see someone else in that position, I feel a little sour.
And I'm sure there's someone out there, or so I'm told, but she's hiding really well. Oli oli oxen free, do you exist? Now in my life is probably not the time for such notions, anyway. I don't want to sound dramatic. This is something I think about, but I don't think I'd go so far as to say I dwell on it anymore like I did a few years ago. I guess it's part of maturing.
A girlfriend/boyfriend is never a solution to a person's problems. Before they can be happy with someone else, they need to be happy with themselves. Other people can help them, but ultimately the individual needs to be strong; they cannot always depend on someone else supporting them. But I won't lie and say that sometimes I'm just flat out lonely. I have great friends, I have a spiritual life, I have a bit of adventure in my life, but sometimes I just feel like I want a hug. Doesn't everyone feel that way once in a while?
I am happy with my life, for the most part. Sometimes I'm sad, sometimes I'm lonely, sometimes I'm confused about what to do, or even dwell on too much negativity. Sometimes I can be too hard on myself. But overall I don't feel generally unhappy. I get overwhelmed and a bit panicky, but then things tend to work out. But I have the feeling that something is missing from it, and I cannot figure out what it is. I often have the feeling that I need to talk with people, because I hate having things on my chest. But my mind works like a bunch of little gears going and I think that it's wearing me down, and for all the flaws in my life, I can't solve them all, and I feel that that is the hand I have been dealt, that's what I have to work with. My happiness is a choice, not a ray of sunshine shining down. I have to work at it everyday, some days are better than others. At the moment I'm feeling a little down again, but that comes and goes, because humans aren't static. Joy is a gift, peace is a gift. Happiness is earned, I think. Like the man said, someone who looks for happiness will never find it, one who works to make help others will have happiness find him.
But, that still doesn't change the fact that I sometimes just want someone special to share my life with. When I look at some of my friends/classmates...they are in relationships, they are engaged, they are married...well, the latter two I personally would rather hold off on for a number of years, but with the first, I guess how does one not notice it sometimes? Sometimes when I think about it, though, I wonder if even it's even my thing. I've never been in a serious relationship, and don't really know the first thing about the commitment I've no doubt it takes. I have an idea about the qualities I'm looking for, but sometimes, I wonder if I'm being too picky, or if they are just qualities I like about myself; I tell myself it's just because I'd feel compatible with such a person, but I also think maybe it's me just getting a little full of myself. Still, though, ideas aren't bad to have when looking for someone.
What I probably ought to do is just forget the whole thing, and at least for the time being in Germany, I kind of have, because I'm going home in a few months anyway. I'm not sure I can ever totally forget it, though.
Well, anyway, I'm not really sure how I got on that...I took a break from writing this and came back a moment ago to work on the last few paragraphs.
I feel that it would be wrong of me to not mention at least a small opinion of what happened in Virginia yesterday. I felt kind of bad I was out of the country when this happened. I don't know why...I have the news coverage here, if I want it. I guess I feel a sense of loyalty...if a tragedy strikes, I guess I feel I should be there with the rest of the nation. I want to point something out, though, because this is a bit of a hard concept to grasp for some, I think. When we are at home and we see news of people dying in wars in countries where no one can pronounce the names, gee, that's too bad, but it's over there. Well, to me, I could just as well say Virginia is "over there." To many Germans, that is probably exactly the case. Most people will probably feel a vague sense of loss that I think is expressed well in this little ditty by John Donne, called "For Whom the Bell Tolls":
No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
Basically, what it means is, for me at least, if someone dies, even if I didn't know the person, I usually feel a vague emptiness, not quite a sadness always, but at least a vagueness at the extinction of a member of my species.
But it's over there...so tough luck, but it's on TV, so it might as well be on another planet.
This time it was at home, wasn't it? Not so "over there" now... This isn't a political message, I'm just trying to point out how small our world really is, and that what people here about in the papers isn't fiction. It is depersonalized, it is overwhelming, so we perhaps shut ourselves down to it, for our own survival...or out of fear of some kind...but it's *us*. I think more people need to realize this. I can't speak for other countries, but for America it's a bit harder, I think. There's still some isolationism that the internet cannot breach. We don't share a ton of borders, and our country is huge. I don't know what this realization would accomplish, but I doubt it would hurt much.
A friend of mine said that concealed weapons could have helped end this quicker, if students were allowed to carry them. And he's right, probably. Someone probably could have stopped the killer before he murdered so many people. But I don't think that concealed weapons are the answer. I won't deny they are the possible means to end crime in it's tracks while it's happening, but I also think that as a whole, people aren't ready for such a law. Speaking for myself, I would be uncomfortable with it. I'm not anti-guns, but I think the people who support this idea of concealed weapons are still in the minority. I'm not saying they're wrong, because I just don't know, but I think that until more average Joes agree that this would really help, I think the idea should not be implemented. We simply are not yet ready for it. Unfortunately, there may not be another answer, given the situation. There must be, but there very well may not be. Norway, for example, doesn't arm their police: armed police cause the criminals to feel they need to be packing, as well. But then again, Norway doesn't have the crime America has. But I can't help but feel this would stoke the fire somehow. And then again, if me or a loved one were in danger, and I could stop it, I wouldn't be pacifistic about it.
But I wasn't there. Maybe I should keep my two cents in my pocket, after all.
Anyway, I don't have much love for politics, on the giving or the receiving end, so I'm not going to continue on this. This is not what my blog is about. To be honest, when I write, sometimes I'm uncomfortable about all I say, but I think there are some universal themes in it, and hope that maybe someone reading it would find comfort somehow... Hmmm, that sounds really familiar. I may have already written that, so if I did, I guess I really mean it!
Anyway, that's it for me. Have a good one all! Hope all is well.
Sincerely,
Tristan
posted by Tristan | 9:00 AM
2 Comments:
Wow! It sounds like you are keeping busy!
1) The camp
I've never really gone to a camp or anything, and for some reason I do not have the urge to do so. I don't really like being surrounded by a bunch of people whom I do not know...I would rather have opportunities come to me, not me to them...it's not that I don't like getting to know new people, it's just that I like to do it on my own terms...maybe by just hanging out with them when we are free of any condition that would make the initiation of our relationship seem less real.
2) Relationships
Yes, Tristan, we all want that special someone. But you shouldn't settle for someone just because you feel lonely or whatever. It is good that you hold high standards, and I do not think you are "picky"...you simply want someone that is quite like you.
Once or twice, I think, I was in relationships because I felt lonely...it sounds sort of dumb now, but in high school, when I moved into the high school as a freshman, I noticed that my brother, who I considered to be my best friend, seemed like he did not want to spend as much time with me as I had expected. This was a big blow to me...for years and years we had been the bestest of pals...so anyway, I must have felt that I needed something to replace the abyss of dispair and grief that grew inside me like a malignant cancer, so I became involved in a relationship...it went good for like a year, then the next year was terrible...I don't know why I didn't call it off sooner, but I didn't...it only made things worse...at the end I hated the girl and felt alienated from my brother. That was a messed up relationship, I do say.
Then my Freshman year in college, there was this one girl...the first time I saw her, it was like I had some kind of connection with her...I wanted to be near her, to hold her, to talk to her...but I really didn't give any effort...blah blah blah...then things sort of worked out between us, and it was good for a while, but then I realized that we were so different in many ways and knew that things would never work...no matter how much I wanted them to.
I don't know why I just went on and on about these past relationships, but maybe I was trying to let you see that you really do need to find the right person for the right reasons...and even though you feel that you "need" someone right now, there should be no rush...because when you find the right person, it will be worth the waiting.
3) VA Tech
I don't know what to say about this...if I try, I don't think I will be able to put into words exactly what I feel...this was a most unfortunate day at VA Tech, and I think the university could have done more...they should have alerted everyone after the first incident in the dorms...this could have changed the outcome of events.
Concealed weapons? I don't think any college campuses allow concealed weapons...but maybe things would have been different if a student at VA Tech had had a gun and stopped the killer. I know I would have. I don't want to sound like some kind of violent person, but if I had a gun and if my life and many others' were threatened, I would do something.
I don't know why so much bad happens, but we should all try to make things better...even the little things matter.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
I heard a lot of good things about the spirit of Taizé but haven't yet gone there. Two reasons actually : I didn't get an offer to do so and also I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable in what would probably be a group of ardent Christians.
As for the issue of guns: I'm afraid I must take the European stance here. According to the news, this guy massacred his fellow students because he was heartbroken. How many people are heartbroken at least once in their life? Probably everybody. How many people feel like killing somebody or at least beating him unconscious at some point in their life? Most everybody. I don't want to imagine what would happen if everybody had a gun within reach at those turning points.
And I don't believe that restricting guns helps criminals. Even though Germany is much more densely populated, Germany only has A FOURTH of American per capita murder rates and there has been only one school shooting ever that I know of. Not that there's something special about Germany, most 1st world countries can show similar good stats, except the USA which is ranked with Yemen, Armenia, Zambia and the like. It has to come from somewhere. My explanation is that the vastly lower rates come from
a) crimes of passion - if you don't already own a gun, chance is that you will have calmed down after the months it takes to legally get a gun in Germany, and most criminals in this category are not into organised crime so they can't get a gun faster;
and
b) the logistics of killing somebody - choking or stabbing somebody to death are so much harder to do than shooting. Harder to get yourself to do it, harder to do it right and harder to avoid being overwhelmed by the victim(s), especially if it's a large group, such as a university class.
Okay, let's imagine that in that school most people had a hidden gun to protect themselves. What would happen when somebody suddenly comes in and starts shooting? A few people would be dead or disabled before having the sense of mind to react. Then, the others would draw their guns and start firing as well. And since it's hard to figure out who is a friendly gunman and who isn't, chance is they'd all shoot each other and even more innocents would die.
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