Too often we are quick to throw in the towel and move as far away from the scene of the trauma as we can get. Often the advice from professionals is to encourage the family inflicted with sudden loss to move away from the scene if they feel they cannot handle the on going flashbacks. Many will not want to deal with the grief by stuffing their grief deep into a bottle and placing a cork in it.
In 1999 two Columbine gunman stormed into their high school and took the lives of several students. Until that day their world was perceived as a safe place to be with little to worry about. The students featured in this news report returned to their school to teach in the classrooms and walk the hallways where many of their fellow classmates were killed. If any students had the excuse not to accept teaching jobs in a school where they saw their classmates shot and killed it would be them.
To me this represents the idea of successfully working through the grief process and not leaving any grief stone not turned. As I read my bible I am reminded by the verse in Revelations 21:5 where God is reminding us that He is making all things new again. The more I work through my grief the more I am learning what a master healer God is in our lives and how he can take any painful memory, any painful event and heal it completely so we can continue on living. God has the power to overcome any evil for good. He can take any evil that happens to us and use it for a good purpose.
These students turned teachers illustrate the profound impact the events of their past had on them. As one student remarked, " I am much more hyper sensitive and not afraid to ask questions about their lives". the events of their past have given them the edge over others who have never experience such tragedy.
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