Watching the video of Cho Seung-Hui, feeling revulsion and fear become something else--

Sadness, deep sadness, not just for the victims whose smiling faces are splashed across every screen and page, but for the cruel, hardened face of the shooter sharing his dismal "letter to the world."

More and more I'm convinced he never have had a moment of peace or happiness, lived a life devoured by rage and hate and disillusionment.

Out of the fog of my tears,

I unexpectedly find

traces of compassion

for the one who made me cry.

April 19, 2007