The Book of Job in the Hebrew Scriptures gave me the only answer I could accept. Job, a godly man, who had lost his family and all his possessions and been told by his friends that he was being punished for some evil deeds, shakes his fists at God and demands an answer. Then God speaks to Job out of the whirlwind and says [I paraphrase] "Job, I do not give you answers, I do promise to let you know me."

As a Christian, I believe that God lets me know God through the revelation of God's son, Jesus, through the scriptures, through the sacraments and through other human beings. All these provide some measure of comfort in the face of evil. Somehow, I am assured that God is strong enough and loving enough to take all my fury, rage, pain, and despair. Somehow I know God.

Almost 50 years ago, a woman who had helped raise me was brutally murdered in a violent shooting like the murders at Virginia Tech today. I was bereft. I loved her beyond the telling. She had never harmed anyone, but she had rejected the man who killed her. In his revenge, he took her life.

For months I lay in bed at night, replaying the event as it had been told to me. When he broke into her house why did she run to a brightly lit area instead of hiding? Why did she go home if she knew he was so angry? And mostly, why did God let this happen?

Years ago I did not understand the ancient story the Hebrews told to reject the theology that if one lived a righteous life that only good would come to him or her and that if one lived an evil life, only bad would happen to her or him. They knew that was not reality, and so the tale of Job was put in the scriptures to give solace when no reasonable or acceptable answer was given.

I can only pray that all those families and friends who have lost beloved children and companions will know that God does promise them, too, to let them know God. And that is true for the family and friends of the young man or men who committed the terrible evil. For the God I believe in, loves those tragic ones as well.