My heart goes out to the families of the victims of the shooting yesterday at Virginia Tech. May you find comfort in this time of sorrow.

The mood at Market today is subdued. The shooting at Virginia Tech has everyone mourning the loss of lives so young. We grieve for college students we've never met.

Even if we've never been in a shooting, we can have empathy for the situation. It is a natural thing to fear being caught in just such a situation, to be trapped and vulnerable, to know that you life is in the hands of someone seeking to take as many lives as possible. We watch the news and see stories of school shootings and market bombings and fear that the places we think are safe are not that safe at all.

The sad fact is that anywhere people interact is vulnerable. No number of laws or safeguards are going to change that. Some places are naturally safer than others, but you never know when there will be that one person in the crowd that will violate the sanctity of a safe place. Some of these people feel that they are making a political statement or advancing a revolutionary cause, while others find that acts of violence are the only way they know to deal with their rage, grief, fears, or impotency. Predicting who has emotional problems and would resort to the mindless violence of opening fire in a public place is difficult, if not impossible. Many times these individuals don't show outward signs of their distress and very rarely do they leave accounts of their motives.

So what can we do to make the world a safer place? The only things we can do: keep on living and teach our children to deal with negativity in a healthy manner. We need to teach our children that violence is not the answer, to listen to them when they discuss what bothers then, and show them that life is worth living. Will this stop all violence? No, but it may save some one's life someday.

The families and friends of the victims at Virginia Tech are in my prayers. May they find some comfort to continue on. You are in my prayers.