A Moment's Pause

I've found a few blogs by different alumni of Huntington College, because I was searching for people posting about the firing of John Sanders. (Lots of people cared, and saw it as a blow to academic freedom.)

Anyway, one of the blogs I found was Elizabeth's, my editor at the Huntingtonian newspaper, a floormate for two years, and a fellow STD'er (Sigma Tau Delta). Not like we keep in touch (I never planned on keeping in touch with any college friends except the very closest ones), but I found it interesting to see where life has led her ~ Colorado. Her most recent post mentioned that yesterday was the two year anniversary of a very important event in our college experience.

My third year of university, I was living in a great dorm called Meadows. Our pod had 3 Katies, a Carole, Claire and Colleen. It was quite a funny coincidence. We were all very different sorts of people, only friends because we lived together, ate together and shared our washroom. Well, two years ago yesterday, Claire and I were coming home from an after-class Wal-Mart run, on an unseasonably warm day. I still remember walking up the stairs to our floor and being met by an RA who quickly told us that Katie K. had collapsed at choir practice and had been rushed to the hospital unresponsive. That quick communication of a few sentences began a very long evening, which led to a very dark night. Katie was pronounced dead later that evening. I believe the cause of death was never officially confirmed, some sort of genetic heart defect that just made her heart stop.

It was an incredible time for all of Katie's friends, and all of us who lived with her. In some ways beautiful because her life was a testament to God's grace. Her death was in many ways easier to accept, because there was no one to blame. No murderer, no drunk driver, no suicide. Instead, it was an act of God or a freak accident of nature, depending on your views. It was my first true encounter with the death of a peer, and it brought up many questions about the sovereignty and omnipotence of God. (Questions already running through my mind thanks to the skill of the aforementioned Dr. Sanders). The questions raised and the conclusions I came to were some of the most important lessons learned during university, and although I don't want to go into all of that here, I do want to take on moment to pause, on the anniversary of Katie's death to remember what I've learned. Life is fragile, the future is not guarenteed. Finding the meaning in life can't be postponed to "once I..." it is now. Life is now.