To those of
you who heard or read about our son Tyler’s involvement in last Monday’s Navy
Yard shooting – thank you so much for your concern and prayers. As we’re rudely reminded once again of the
fragility of life, we’re grateful that he’s alive and well.
Tyler works
on the 3rd floor of Building 197.
He arrived about 8 am and was just emerging from the men’s room when he
heard the sound of gunshots and the deafening fire alarm. He was immediately directed into the
stairwell just as the shooter fired bullets down the corridor he’d just left.
When he got outside there was a still-locked gate, and people began to
panic. Some were able to scale the
9-foot wall, but many more simply couldn’t.
One very large woman from Tyler’s office began to panic because she knew
she wouldn’t get over that height. But
Tyler and two other guys came back and reassured her. “Relax, we’ll get you
over,” and they began lifting her, then other people, up to the top of the
wall. Others began to lower people down
to the other side. Before someone
finally opened the gate to allow everyone to get out, they’d helped about 15
people over the Navy Yard wall.
Tyler texted
us from Nationals Stadium before we knew anything about the event. We never had
to worry for his personal safety. But we, like you, stayed riveted to the TV
for hours that day and grieved over the horrible sense of “Here we go again”
and the tragic loss of life. And while
this again confronts us with the need for some type of gun control, suffice it
to say that simple background checks – the type Congress and the NRA squashed
earlier this year – would have saved a lot of lives on Monday. Why is that
simple step so hard??
Bev and I
know that the horror of Monday’s event touched many lives a lot closer than
ours. But knowing that Tyler was in
Ashland the day the DC snipers were there; that he was at Virginia Tech in the
spring of 2007; and now being in Building 197 – and remembering Garrett was in
Japan during their earthquake / tsunami / nuclear crisis – has reminded us of
the unique challenges of parenting in the 21st century! How grateful we are we don’t have to face
those issues alone.
I remembered
Psalm 90 that says, “Teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of
wisdom.” Bev remembered the prayer, “We know not what a day will bring forth,
only that the hour for serving you is always present.” It’s hard to be so
frequently reminded of the fragility of life.
But maybe that’s exactly what we need.
Not the terror of violent death, but the reminder that life is short and
uncertain and immeasurably precious.
We don’t
need an excuse to hug our loved ones tighter.
Thank God for life! And pray for
one another.
Pastor Larry
