I suspect that all of us (unless we're not thinking properly) would not want such a tragedy as the VT Massacre on 04/16/07 to happen again. Is it possible that it would happen again? I heard a news story today about the man who said he was going to do something as bad or worse as Seung-Hui Cho did. I believe he has a trial date scheduled for May 6th. Others in the past week have threatened similar things at other campuses, and some were even shut down for a time. Violence continues in areas like Chicago, where they say 32 shootings took place over the weekend and several were killed.

To adapt a phrase from former President Ronald Reagan: "Dear Reader...Tear Down That Wall!" You might wonder, what does that have to do with anything on this site? Well, I just came home from viewing the documentary film starring Ben Stein--"EXpelled: No Intelligence Allowed." This was especially moving to me personally, because as I mentioned in Friday's blog, I have been "expelled" in a very unusual way (though my involuntary commitment and legally forced medication was "more civilized" than what happened to so many who were detained or even killed in the mental hospitals in World War II Germany).

Today is the nationwide release of what is likely to be the most controversial film out this year. The movie--Expelled is being released in theaters today and deals with how certain ideas (Creation and Intelligent Design) are being pushed out of the marketplace of ideas in our University and academic communities. The release of this film so close to the anniversary of the VT Tragedy is no coincidence.

I had the privilege of spending most of the day on the Virginia Tech Campus today, on the first anniversary of the 04/16/07 Massacre. It was a moving day and I was able to speak with a number of people (including Tiki Barber and Virginia Governor, Tim Kaine--they were both very gracious to listen to me :-) ). It was really neat to see all the community coming together and even people from all over the world.

The greatest Battle any of us will ever face is the battle in our mind (and it is an ongoing battle). One of the tabs above is entitled this as this was what I titled the graveside service I gave for my brother, Jonathan Franklin Pugh, who lost that particular battle when he took his own life in 2004. I would encourage you to look at that transcript or even watch the rough video of that service. There is much for all of us to learn even through that tragic event!

I Corinthians 13:13 says, "And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love."

One of the greatest lessons coming from the VT Tragedy and my own personal tragedy is to "love one another." This is one of the "Top Ten" lessons and will be particularly discussed in the chapter of my book: "Lessons for Churches."