Cho Seung-Hui delivered a message each time his finger squeezed the trigger Monday morning.

The 23-year-old college student took 33 lives from Virginia Tech University, but he left the rest of America with a little less life, too.

Oklahoma City, Columbine, 9-11, our world is one of man-made tragedy. Each horror makes the next less shocking, but equally as devastating.

Cho drove home the message one more time Monday — we’ll never be absolutely safe.

All the safety measures in the world can’t stop a madman determined to kill. Terror alerts won’t end terrorism. Security guards at high schools can’t ensure a safe environment.

Spectators have already started calling for the resignation of Virginia Tech’s president and law enforcement chief. Those involved claim these men should have done more to notify the students of danger, more to predict the moves of a madman.

Americans have a natural tendency to expect leaders — other human beings — to save the victims.

We all want protectors.

But sometimes, in some circumstances we simply cannot be protected.

Our classrooms are unsafe. Our streets, courtrooms, offices and airplanes are unsafe.

Unfortunately, we’ll see future tragedies. And with each one, we’ll learn to cope better and with each other’s help.

Now is not a time to point fingers; now is a time to pull together and send a message back to people like Cho.

We’ll survive, because we have each other. Random acts of violence won’t stop us from living our lives.