He and other chaplains modified their usual chapel service on Wednesday to accommodate an array of feelings they said could be triggered by a national tragedy — especially among emergency workers.
The nation was stunned Monday at news that Seung-hui Cho, 23, allegedly shot and killed 32 of his classmates and injured scores more before killing himself in what has become the worst shooting rampage in U.S. history.
While an event of that magnitude can bring on feelings of denial, shock, guilt, anger and depression, verbalizing them over time will help people accept the loss and deal with it, hospital chaplain Irena Aghassian told the audience.
"In our spirit, we're so connected to what happened," she said.
Signs of that general connectivity have been seen around Glendale and throughout the country after President George W. Bush ordered during a convocation he attended at Virginia Tech on Tuesday that flags be flown at half-staff.
Flags at all Glendale city sites will remain at half-staff until sunset on Sunday in accordance with the President's proclamation, officials said.
Most local churches had no plans as of Wednesday to hold special services for the shooting, although some staff members said the topic would most likely come up during regular worship this weekend.
In the meantime, the little chapel at Glendale Adventist Medical Center had a big impact for hospital staff looking for some amount of solace.
"You internalize this and it's hard not to," said Diana Elias, who works in the hospital's volunteer services department.
For Carole Ransom, who also works at the hospital, the shooting carried a tinge of direct effect since her good friend was a Virginia Tech graduate.
But even for those outside the first or second degree of separation of those directly affected by the shooting, Ransom said everyone can relate in some way to the tragedy at the most common, human level.
"Many of us are parents, or have brothers and sisters," she said.
"We can all imagine what it would be like."
That human element is what people should hang onto when trying to make any sense out of senseless acts of violence, chaplain intern Ben Garcia said during the service.
"Take hope that we are all connected," he said.
"Can you imagine if this happened and we didn't care?"
