What happened in Aurora, Colorado last week was evil and horrific. \u00a0I can’t imagine the depth of the pain for the families who lost loved ones or who were innocently in that theater that night. \u00a0The following [slightly edited] perspective from a Denver blogger, however, caused me to pause. \u00a0In fact, my planned post was actually scrapped, as we humbly attempt to focus on finding some kind of good and pure and right…<\/p>\n
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At Columbine, I have seen this before. But not up close. \u00a0As a church pastor in Denver, I have worked as a chaplain with several police and fire departments. I was privileged to counsel parents just hours after the Littleton Columbine shootings. However, in this new tragedy at the Aurora Theater Dark Night shooting, one of the victims was a 22 year old woman from my church, Petra Anderson (pronounced Pay-tra). Petra went to the movies with two young friends who are biking across America. \u00a0You and I have been inundated with news about what happened next. A joyful movie turned into bloody, unbelievable chaos. Petra was hit four times with a shot-gun blast, three shots into her arm and one bullet which entered her brain. This a bit of Petra\u2019s miracle story.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n … A bullet had entered Petra\u2019s face through her nose, and then traveled up through her brain until stopping at the back of her skull. The doctors prior to surgery were concerned, because so much of the brain had been traversed by the bullet. Many areas of brain function were involved. They were hoping to keep her alive long enough to get her into surgery. The prognosis was uncertain\u2014if she lived, Petra might struggle with speech, movement, and thinking due to considerable brain damage. With Kim, Petra\u2019s mother (who is in the final stages of terminal cancer), we simply cried, hugged, and prayed…<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n If you have lived any of your days in a hospital waiting room, you know how long the enduring process is. It has a woeful pattern to it. Sit. Walk. Grab a drink. Sit. Walk. Answer a phone call. Sit. Walk. Hug someone. Sit. Talk to the FBI. Sit. Pick at the food. Sit. Walk. Go down the hall, but not too far because you\u2019re afraid to miss something. Back. Hug. Pray. Sit. Sit. A picture of a five year old waiting for next Christmas from January 1st comes to my mind. FOREVER. Only this feels worse: a heavy forever, with no promise of presents, Santa, or good news at the end.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n After the waiting drags for over five hours, tired doctors and nurses spill back into the room, one or two at a time… The doctors update us: \u201cIt went well, and she\u2019s recovering now. We found very little damage to the brain, and got the bullet out cleanly. It went better than we hoped for… Something might still go wrong. We just need to wait and see if she makes it for the next 48 hours.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tears and thank you\u2019s abound. We are so thankful for these men and women. We hug. Everyone hugs. Then, round two. Sit. Wait. Pray. Fully dressed people cuddle into small snails and try to sleep on the floor. Some are shuttled to a room donated by the Holiday Inn across the street. Thank you, Lord, for every little thing. We sit. We pray. \u201cWe\u2019ll understand better tomorrow.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Petra is moved back to ICU. She looks, surprisingly, wonderful. With a small hole in her nose, and her arm wrapped, she almost looks uninjured. She is medicated and sleeping when I come to visit her on Saturday. I sit, talk, and pray quietly with Kim amid the darkened room, lit by glowing medical screens and power switches. Nurses, like quiet soldiers posted on guard, come in, march attentively through the machines, and go out.\u00a0 These men and women really care. Finally, one of the surgeons comes in to check on Petra. He has had some sleep, and looks more like a movie star this time. As Petra sleeps, he retells the story of the surgery, and we ask questions.\u00a0 The doctor reads the perfect script, as if he is on Hallmark Hall of Fame. He fills us in on the miracle. Honestly, he doesn\u2019t call it that, he just uses words like \u201chappily\u201d and \u201cwonderfully\u201d and \u201cin a very fortunate way\u201d and \u201cluckily\u201d and \u201cwe were really surprised by that.\u201d\u00a0 Kim and I know a miracle when we see it.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n It seems as if the bullet traveled through Petra\u2019s brain without hitting any significant brain areas. The doctor explains that Petra\u2019s brain has had from birth a small \u201cdefect\u201d in it. It is a tiny channel of fluid running through her skull, like a tiny vein through marble, or a small hole in an oak board, winding from front to rear.\u00a0\u00a0Only a CAT scan would catch it, and Petra would have never noticed it.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n But in Petra\u2019s case, the shotgun buck shot, maybe even the size used for deer hunting, enters her brain from the exact point of this defect. Like a marble through a small tube, the defect channels the bullet from Petra\u2019s nose through her brain. It turns slightly several times, and comes to rest at the rear of her brain. And in the process, the bullet misses all the vital areas of the brain. In many ways, it almost misses the brain itself.\u00a0 Like a giant BB though a straw created in Petra\u2019s brain before she was born, it follows the route of the defect. It is channeled in the least harmful way. A millimeter in any direction and the channel is missed.\u00a0 The brain is destroyed. Evil wins a round.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n As he shares, the doctor seems taken aback. It is an odd thing to have a surgeon show a bit of wonder. Professionally, these guys own the universe, it seems, and take everything in stride. He is obviously gifted as a surgeon, and is kind in his manner. \u201cIt couldn\u2019t have gone better. If it were my daughter,\u201d he says quietly, glancing around to see if any of his colleagues might be watching him, \u201cI\u2019d be ecstatic. I\u2019d be dancing a jig.\u201d He smiles. I can\u2019t keep my smile back, or the tears of joy. In Christianity we call it prevenient grace: God working ahead of time for a particular event in the future. It\u2019s just like the God I follow to plan the route of a bullet through a brain long before Batman ever rises. Twenty-two years before.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n While we\u2019re talking, Petra awakes. She opens her eyes, and sits up, \u201cMom.\u201d Movie-star doctor spins to grab her, to protect her from falling. The nurse assures him she\u2019s been doing this for a while. He talks to her, and she talks back. He asks questions, and Petra has the right answers. \u201cWhere do you hurt, Petra?\u201d \u201cAll over.\u201d Amazed, but professional, he smiles and leaves the set shaking his head. I am so thankful for this man.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Petra is groggy and beat up, but she is herself. Honestly, I look worse before my morning coffee. \u201cI\u2019m thirsty,\u201d she proclaims. \u201cYou want an ice cube, honey?\u201d Kim replies,\u00a0<\/em>\u201cPlease.\u201d\u00a0 Wow. She lays down, back to sleep, a living miracle who doesn\u2019t even know it yet. Good flowering out of the refuse pile of a truly dark night. \u201cThank you, Jesus,\u201d I whisper.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Petra, you are amazing. Kim, you, too, are amazing. I am so proud of you both. But God, you are in a league of your own. (Duh.)<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Respectfully \u2014 and in quiet awe…<\/p>\n AR<\/p>\n <\/p>\n