Which of us hasn’t sorrowed at the school shootings which seem to happen regularly these days? The one at Seattle Pacific University two days ago, however, especially affected me.

Seattle is the closest major city to my home. More than that, I’ve attended a writers’ conference there. I receive SPU’s Response magazine each quarter in the mail. I’ve quoted from it in this blog. I know at least one writer on the staff there. Each week, a guided Bible reading from the school arrives in my inbox that I use in my daily devotions.

SPU is affiliated with the Free Methodist denomination. The college lays great stress on the connection between faith and service in the wider world.

According to news reports, a lone gunman entered a building on campus and killed one person and seriously wounded two others. Another student is credited with saving more individuals from harm by attacking the gunman with pepper spray and disarming him.

What stands out for me in this tragic episode is not only the heroism of the student who dared confront the gunman. Even more significant for me are the images of hundreds of students from the university sitting afterwards in circles on the SPU campus holding hands and praying. They comforted each other in huddles. They gathered together for prayer in a nearby church.

I’m sure every student at SPU at this time will live forever influenced by this event. However, those students reacting to tragedy by coming together in spiritual community send a stronger message. They convince me that a force stronger than evil is loose in this world and will ultimately prevail.