Last spring I was a judge for the Chicago History Fair.
One of the displays I was asked to judge was on fire prevention which used the Our Lady of Angels Fire for its major influence on updating fire prevention techniques. After the fair, I remembered how impacting the tragedy had been, and I realized that there are many parents, siblings and friends who still carry the pain of that horrible day, and I felt God's compassion for them. I reviewed various websites on the fire, and when I found this site, I read the letters and felt compelled to write.On December 1, 1958, I was a third grader in a public school (Caldwell) on Chicago's south side. Most of the students were either Jewish or Catholic, and the teachers were predominantly of Catholic background. The day after the fire one of the teachers, herself a Catholic, shared with us how she knew many of the sisters at Our Lady of the Angels school. I remember that we students were unusually quiet and somber as we listened to her talk. As I read over your letters, I was impacted by how real the memories and pain of that day still remains in so many people's lives and how there are so many thoughts and questions about God. I was raised Jewish but through my own search for God many years ago I have come to know Jesus as my loving Messiah, and through the study and application of the bible, I have come to learn the character and nature of our loving Father, who has helped me to understand my own losses. Dear loved ones, please know that God is not the author of tragedy, but he is there for us in ours to provide us hope and comfort.Even God the Father, knew the loss of His only begotten son, and He considers your pain no less than His. He created you, and He cares for you. God said in the messianic passage of Isaiah 53 that He (The suffering servant, Jesus) bore our griefs and our sorrows. God wants us all to know the blessing and comfort of His presence and the hope of eternal life offered through His son. When reading through your posted stories, I particularly remember the one of the young girl who had dreams about fires and three different girls who she played with who all perished in the fire and that she now realizes that it was ESP. All I can say is that actually you have a gift from God of visions and dreams, as many had in the bible including Mary and Joseph. In Matthew Chapter 2:12-13 we read how God warned Joseph in a dream to depart form Herod's presence and go to Egypt, a dream which Joseph obeyed, and which spared his son, Jesus, from the execution of all male children age two and under (verse 16). I beleive God, in His love, was trying to communicate to you the impending danger so that people could pray and act and avoid the disaster. Ask God to help you identify and clarify this gift for use in the future. In the story of young Samuel, the prophet, we see that he did not realize that God was trying to communicate to him in the night until the priest, Eli, told him so (see 1 Samuel chapter 3). I planned to write this letter many months ago, but I never took the time to do it. Since that time I have been accepted and have been working as a teacher at a Catholic school, a wonderful school with many wonderful Catholic teachers and students. I pray that you all may know the love, forgiveness and comfort of Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit, and remember that He promised us that "He comes to give us life and life abundantly, though the thief (Satan)comes only to steal and kill and destroy." Please don't believe the lies of Satan that God is the one who caused the tragedy when it was really the evil forces in a fallen world." I pray that you all may come to know the peace and comfort of God that can only be found in Jesus Christ. As God has said in Jeremiah 29:13 that if "we seek Him with all our heart, we will find Him."If you want to e-mail me further my e-mail is mseeger@comcast.net. As to the girls at Regina, perhaps I will see you at this year's history fair. God bless you all - Marc Seeger
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