Remembering Columbine: 12 Years Later

April 20 is a day that many circle on the calendar as a day of celebration because of the link between the number 420 and marijuana.  Still others will remember April 20 as Hitler’s birthday, the day that the BP oil spill began, or even the Waco Branch Davidian massacre or the Oklahoma City federal building bombing (though those last two events actually happened on April 19).  I, however, will always remember this day for the events of Tuesday, April 20, 1999, in Littleton, CO.  It was on this day that two students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, entered Columbine High School and opened fire on their fellow classmates and teachers.  Around 11:00am local time the worst school shooting in American history up to that point began, and it ended an hour later when the two gunmen committed suicide after murdering 13 people and wounding 21 others.

I was in the eighth grade when this happened and I remember it like it was yesterday, even though 12 years have passed.  I was sick and had stayed home from school and I was watching something on television when they broke in with a new bulletin.  The network began streaming live coverage of the events unfolding in suburban Denver.  I watched as the students fled the building, fell out of windows, and sprinted to safety.  I watched as the SWAT team stormed the school.  I watched as it was discovered that the two shooters had taken their own lives and that the horror was over.  I watched as the list of causalities was released, and the death toll rose to 15.

After the tragedy one Columbine student said, “An event like this should cut us.  It should change us.  If it doesn’t, there’s something wrong.  If you just let your life go on like it did before, you’re burying a gift you’ve been given.  You’re missing an important moment.”  I was cut by Columbine.  I didn’t attend school there nor did I know anyone who went there, but I was deeply hurt and affected by the tragedy, and I’m still deeply affected today.  Even though that cut has healed it has left a scar.  I would hope that it has scarred all of us.  When events like school shootings happen they don’t just affect those directly connected to the incident, they affect all of us.  Tragedies like this are universal.

Ever since that day in eighth grade I have been committed to doing what I can to be a peacemaker.  In fact Christ himself said that “Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9 NIV).  As Eugene Peterson paraphrases it in The Message “You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.”  We all need to be peacemakers.  When we learn to love our fellow man and we share and teach that love to others we become peacemakers.  We cannot truly experience love or show love however, until we have first experienced the love of God.

It is the love of God that allows us to be peacemakers, because it is through that love, that αγάπη love, that He made peace with us.  God is holy and perfect, and He demands perfection from us.  God’s holiness requires that we be perfect and free of sin in order to be at peace with Him.  Unfortunately for us none are capable of living such a perfect life.  We have all sinned and have therefore created conflict between us and God.  In fact, every time we sin we are in effect denying the very existence of God and His righteousness, for if we truly believed, we would fear His wrath enough not to sin.  However, God is not a God of wrath alone, He is a God of love as well, and it was because of this love for us that He sent His son Jesus to die on a cross in our place.

Jesus was perfect.  He lived the holy and righteous life that God required and therefore he was found blameless before the Father.  This allowed him to die in our place and to take on the penalty we deserve for our sins.  Jesus became our peacemaker.  It is his death and resurrection that allows us to make peace with God and experience His love which we can then pass onto others.

The greatest way we can become peacemakers in the world today isn’t by deposing dictators, legislating, stopping violence, standing up against bullies, or picketing.  The greatest way we can become peacemakers in the world today is by sharing the love of God with others and by introducing them to history’s greatest peacemaker, Jesus Christ.  It is only through belief in and reliance on Christ that we will ever be able to live in a world filled with peace.

Columbine cut us all deeply and it should have.  It left scars on us, just as our sins left scars on Jesus hands and feet as he was nailed to the cross.  As the Columbine student said, “If you just let your life go on like it did before, you’re burying a gift you’ve been given.  You’re missing an important moment.”  These scars are a gift.  We’ve all been given the gift of salvation through the scars of Jesus Christ if we accept it.  We’ve all been given the opportunity to be peacemakers, to stand up for the least of our brothers and sisters, to stand against injustice, and to stand and share the love of Christ with those we come into contact with.  If we just let our lives go on like we did before Columbine and before we met Christ then we bury that gift.

This is an important moment.  I hope that we don’t miss it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqbo0f9qvxg

Rachel Scott, age 17, killed by shots to the head, torso, and leg on a grassy area next to the West Entrance of the school.

Richard Castaldo, age 17, shot in the arm, chest, back and abdomen on the same grassy area.

Daniel Rohrbough, age 15, killed by a shot to the chest on the West Staircase.

Sean Graves, age 15, shot in the back, foot and abdomen on the West Staircase.

Lance Kirklin, age 16, shot with wounds to the leg, neck and jaw on the West Staircase.

Michael Johnson, age 15, escaped from the grassy knoll with wounds to his face, arm and leg.

Mark Taylor, age 16, shot in the chest, arms and leg on the grassy knoll.

Anne-Marie Hochhalter, age 17, shot in the chest, arm, abdomen, back, and left leg near the cafeteria's entrance.

Brian Anderson, age 16, injured near the West Entrance by flying glass.

Patti Nielson, age 35, hit in the shoulder by shrapnel near the West Entrance.

Stephanie Munson, age 16, shot in the ankle inside the North Hallway.

Dave Sanders, age 47, teacher, died of blood loss after being shot in the neck and back inside the South Hallway.

Evan Todd, age 15, sustained minor injuries from the splintering of a desk he was hiding under.

Kyle Velasquez, age 16, killed by gunshot wounds to the head and back.

Patrick Ireland, age 17, shot in the arm, leg, head, and foot.

Daniel Steepleton, age, 17, shot in the thigh.

Makai Hall, age 18, shot in the knee.

Steven Curnow, age 14, killed by a shot to the neck.

Kacey Ruegsegger, age 17, shot in the hand, arm and shoulder.

Cassie Bernall, age 17, killed by a shot to the head.

Isaiah Shoels, age 18, killed by a shot to the chest.

Matthew Kechter, age 16, killed by a shot to the chest.

Lisa Kreutz, age 18, shot in the shoulder, hand and arms and thigh.

Valeen Schnurr, age 18, injured with wounds to the chest, arms and abdomen.

Mark Kintgen, age 17, shot in the head and shoulder.

Lauren Townsend, age 18, killed by multiple gunshot wounds to the head, chest and lower body.

Nicole Nowlen, age 16, shot in the abdomen.

John Tomlin, age 16, killed by multiple shots to the head and neck.

Kelly Fleming, age 16, killed by a shot to the back.

Jeanna Park, age 18, shot in the knee, shoulder and foot.

Daniel Mauser, age 15, killed by a shot to the face.

Jennifer Doyle, age 17, shot in the hand, leg and shoulder.

Austin Eubanks, age 17, shot in the head and knee.

Corey DePooter, age 17, killed by shots to the chest and neck.

Eric Harris, age 18, shooter, committed suicide by a single shot in the mouth. 

Dylan Klebold, age 17, shooter, committed suicide by a single shot to the head.