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In the aftermath of the murders at Virginia Tech University, CT reported on a group of students who traveled from Colorado to offer comfort and guidance based on their own experience at a school shooting. "The four Christians who as adolescents survived the massacre at Columbine High School almost eight years ago traveled to the southwestern Virginia campus to guide church leaders and minister to students processing grief, anger, and sorrow."

Tragedy that it was, the Virginia Tech shootings did not provoke the national shock and heart searching that Columbine did. School shootings are horrifying, but they are no longer uncommon.

So, it may be instructive to look back to CT's coverage of the Columbine shootings, particularly Wendy Murray's three-year series on the tragedy. She visited the school soon after the shootings and then took the pulse of the community and the country in the years following.

Many ask where God is when tragedy strikes. But those who experienced Columbine reported that the Lord's presence was with them. "This sentiment emerged time and again from my visits with parents, students, pastors, and others intimately connected to that day at Columbine High," writes Murray. "The students remained calm before, during, and after the rampage, even after some were gravely wounded; others heroically used their bodies to shield friends and relatives; and several carried the wounded to safety."

Still, evil was also present. "Shirley Hickman, a Spanish teacher at Columbine, said, 'You have to go into the spiritual element because, in human terms, none of it makes sense. These were two suburban boys from two-parent families with plenty of money, part-time jobs; they were good students, intelligent and respected by faculty for their computer skills. But when you think that they walked into school and murdered 13 people, you have to look at the power of Satan.'"

The year after the shootings, Murray reported on the anti-Christian nature of the massacre. "Many families who lost children are Christian. As they await the official report on the investigation … some are bewildered by the seeming unwillingness of investigators to acknowledge the significance of anti-Christian aspects of the killings."

"At first, when we were hearing person after person that died, one thing that most of them had in common is that they were Christians," says Sarah Arzola, a Columbine senior and a friend of victim Rachel Scott. "When I would hear about another Christian that died, I just thought, God didn't take anybody that wasn't ready to go. That gave me some peace."

Despite the tragedy, many of the survivors saw God present not only during the horror of the event, but also in the responses of Christians. "Our generation will be remembered as the generation of the faith," said Matt Bruce, a junior at Columbine and friend of Rachel Scott. Many students who experienced the shootings have been speaking to other Christians, encouraging their faith, and working in Christian ministry in memory of their killed friends.

As time began to heal wounds the murders caused, other secondary issues took center stage. Since many in the community and many of the victims were Christians, and because, at least in part, the killers' motivation was anti-Christian sentiment, the role of religion in mourning the tragedy inspired intense debate.

"This national conversation [prompted by the murders] has included," Murray wrote, "political discussions about how to interpret the Constitution and the place of religious liberties. It has also prompted social pundits to speculate about morality and faith."

After all, how do we explain senseless events like Columbine or Virginia Tech without talking about good and evil, right and wrong? And how do we talk about morality without talking about God himself? But in a society that rejects God-talk in the public square, "How do we heal a nation whose moral fabric has come apart without introducing the language of faith in a higher law?"

In the aftermath of Columbine, no one has been able to answer that question. The memorials following the Virginia Tech shootings—where 12 victims, two of whom died, were members of one church, New Life Christian Fellowship—also tried to maintain a balance. But keeping religion out proved impossible. "Christianity is front and center in much of the memorial," wrote CT's Weblog after the event.

So, what will it take for a country that turns to God whenever things go wrong to trust him when things are going right?