After Friday

It is Monday and I still hear, see, and feel the shock of Friday night.

I was a bit nervous joining for worship at my own church on Sunday morning. I stared at our still screen and speakers and intently watch for any shaking. Someone tapped to the music on the pew on which I had rested my hands and I had to remove my hands because it reminded me too much of the reverberation I felt when the speakers crashed down.

When I went to sit in my usual spot, I saw a friend, a young girl who joined our church a little after I did and just because we sat close together, we got to know each other a little bit more each Sunday. The bruises and scrapes on her sweet face told me of her harrowing experience of falling through that hole. It was *only* five metres down, but she said the drop felt like forever. Then other people toppled on top of her and when the three pews fell in after the people, she could only hear the thunderous sound of them landing and hope that none would land on her. Her mother, who wasn't at the concert, received a call from someone telling her that the floor of the church collapsed and her daughter was in the thick of it. The mom reached the vicinity of the church, only to be told that she couldn't go any further and she left her car behind to search for her daughter on foot. It took a while, each moment tightening around her heart, before she was told that her daughter had been taken to the hospital already. At long last, she found her daughter and cried sweet tears only a loving mother would shed after having found her baby alive.

I have heard a few more stories since yesterday and I am always nearly brought to tears when I hear of the close calls. Two of my colleagues attended that church and they tell me that the congregation is worshipping at Columbia Bible College for the time being. One of them has a daughter who attended the concert and was sitting at the pew that was just behind the last one that had fallen in; she was mere inches away from falling into the hole herself. Today, she is still traumatized and loud noises scare her. The other colleague has a husband who works in security and was actually going to be working at the church that night when he became exhausted from having overworked previously and decided not to go. Had he chosen to work one more night, he would've taken his daughter and her friends to the concert and they all would've suffered the fate that 40+ others suffered. In fact, his close buddy who did work as security that night, suffered some major injury to his head and leg because he also fell into the hole.

All these people are good people. Which is why it irks me so much when I read comments on the news sites that reek of ignorance and shallowness. These comments are made by Christians and non-Christians alike. They have turned this event into a public and shameless religious debate that barely addresses the main issue. Some people take this opportunity to openly flame Christians, or more accurately, God. I can only pray for people who make comments like, "God and rock 'n' roll don't mix." S/he didn't outrightly say it, but I think the comment implied that the concert-goers deserved it. I became quite livid with how quickly people judged the church and God and used this to say "See, God doesn't exist." God isn't punishing these people! God is not spiteful! When people bring God to a human level, it just cheeses me right off!

I was actually fuming while brushing my teeth with my new electric toothbrush. I was so angry that I started manually brushing while the toothbrush was on and nearly tore off my gums before I noticed how sore they were and the blood slowly trickled down the shaft of my toothbrush. Then, I stopped and realized how silly I was to get so worked up over this. *Those* people can judge all they want, but the main thing is the well-being of all those who are hurt. As people write scathing remarks on the net, a woman lies in the hospital hooked up to a ventilator and waits for surgery that will mark her either as a paraplegic or a fortunate woman. (Her surgery was yesterday and I haven't heard anything yet about her current condition.)

I'm not sure why God allowed for this to happen, but I know it is not for me to find out, really. It is my job on Earth to share that God provides. He has provided a community that will encourage and comfort each other in this time of tribulation. He has provided quick medical response from Abbotsford and the other municipalities. He has provided. He is enough. I hope one day everyone will understand and accept that fact.