Monday, December 1, 1997
A little miracle in Hedrick Hall
GOD: Sometimes, it takes a bit of faith to discover that
friendship can be where it’s least expected
Long ago, before the age of the great construction, there lived
three roommates in Hedrick Hall: Bob, Ray and Dan. Like most
freshmen, they were randomly picked to room together by the great
computer. They never did anything together, however, because they
had no common interests. A more divergent bunch could not have been
assembled in a single dorm room. No one expected that they would be
mysteriously drawn together that year.
Suzie knew better. As a fifth-year student, she was a rarity
still living in the dorms – most people her age had moved out,
becoming more inwardly focused and devoted to oneself. Suzie
foresaw that these three roommates would be stranded on campus over
the Thanksgiving holiday, as their families were, for various
reasons, inaccessible. So, on Wednesday evening she hoped to catch
each of the guys, stranded in the midst of their isolated
lives.
* * *
Bob was into having a good time, always on the lookout for a
raging party. On his way out of the dorm that night, he bumped into
Suzie, who asked innocently, "How are things going with your
roommates?"
Bob replied, "Ray and Dan are kooks – they don’t enjoy life like
I do." And off he went. At the party, Bob joked at the expense of
another guest, criticizing his major. "That major is a waste!
You’re never going to get a job, you loser. Get a real major!" The
other person blushed, hung his head low and pushed his way out of
the party. He envied all the undeclared students. Bob, on the other
hand, got a real kick out of that. He felt a party doesn’t get
started until the softies left, and having someone to make fun of
always made the party a pleasure.
Bob was more confident than your average freshman. When the beer
ran out, he found someone else with some beer and graciously seized
it from him. He had something to say too. "I am helping you to
learn how to share. It’s a marketable skill in today’s competitive
job market," he said. Bob also considered how the beer actually
tasted better when taken from someone else. He thinks to himself,
"Party on!" And as Bob looked around him, he noticed a parade of
pretty women. Mere objects.
Eventually the party got broken up. The fraternity next door
complained that it was getting too loud and kept them from their
sleep.
As he walked back up the hill to Hedrick, Bob felt a twinge of
guilt, a momentary awareness of himself.
He noticed a poster hanging loosely on the dorm wall.
Somehow it seemed connected.
* * *
Ray was a different breed. It wasn’t easy for him to adjust to
being anonymous at such a large university. He was an only child
and had attended private schools all his life. Whenever he felt
alone, he would drive off in his car to wherever he felt more
comfortable. When Suzie came to see him that night, he was blasting
his brand of music – which he played so loud that other people on
his floor couldn’t help but hear it.
"What are you listening to?" Suzie asked.
Ray shouted back, "The Egotists! They really speak to me in a
way I can understand!" He didn’t seem to notice or care that
blaring his music was causing other people to avoid him. Suzie then
handed him one of the flyers she had been posting around school
that afternoon.
Ray didn’t think it sounded interesting at all. "Sorry, but
tonight I’m going to watch a movie in Westwood," he said. He had
pressured other people earlier into going with him, bribing them
with a ride down to Westwood in his brand-new sports car.
Near the theater, Ray bumped into a homeless and snapped, "Man,
you smell terrible. You got something against taking showers? When
are you going to stop littering our streets?" Ray’s buddies tended
to avoid the homeless, but Ray enjoyed confrontation. Why should
Ray take the time to walk around a homeless guy, who happened to be
taking up most of the sidewalk? As he passed, the homeless man
gazed in Ray’s eyes with a look of pity for Ray. It disturbed him
so much that Ray felt compelled to respond.
Thinking he would help, he shouted, "Get a job, like my
parents!" and threw a few pennies at him. "Here’s your change," he
said. He would now spend the rest of his evening parting with his
money in a more worthwhile manner.
Walking away, Ray’s shoelaces came untied. He bent down to tie
them and noticed a torn flyer on the ground. In keeping with his
desire to keep the streets clean of debris, he picked up the
message and put it in his pocket. The corner of it read, "The least
will be the greatest."
What an odd thing to say, he thought, as he stared into the
night.
* * *
Dan was always conspicuously absent, so it was a lucky
coincidence that Suzie actually bumped into him. Since he looked
like he was feeling down, she asked him how he was doing.
Dan answered, "Terrible. I think I am going to get an A-minus in
my class on ‘the philosophy of everything.’ Now I’m never going to
get into Harvard Law." His goal in life was to just make it through
these four years without getting too many blemishes on his
transcript. Now he wanted it to be all over, because things could
only go wrong from this stage on. He simply had to be able to
retire by the time he was 35. After that, he would just work for
fun. The main thing for Dan was to get away from these incompetent
underachievers.
Suzie approached him casually and said, "You know, someone once
said, ‘it doesn’t matter if you gain the whole world if you lose
your soul.’" She then stuffed a flyer into his pocket.
The idea struck a chord somewhere within Dan, but picturing his
corner office of the future, he balked, "Sorry, I’ve got to study
hard for the LSAT … I can’t afford to make mistakes early in
life. You know I’ve been studying for the LSAT since I was in
junior high." How could Suzie think he would have time for such a
frivolous conversation? Suzie was the only person that he really
knew outside of the pre-law society. People there were his real
friends, mostly because they could help each other later on in
life. Besides, making friends with people who weren’t going to rise
in society would only be a liability. When he was successful, then
he would help other people, and no one then would dispute that he
had a good heart after all.
He turned away abruptly and walked toward the empty library.
* * *
The next day was Thanksgiving. Things weren’t going all that
well for Dan, since there wasn’t anyone with whom he could spend
this holiday with. But that didn’t matter, he thought. He’d have
more time to study. The whole day, however, he couldn’t get any
studying done. He kept thinking that even if he had everything he
wanted in the world, he wasn’t exactly sure that he’d be happy.
Three hours later, he wandered into Suzie’s room. "How can I keep
what you said from happening to me?" he asked.
Before Suzie could answer, Ray barged in through the door, "Hey
Suzie. Oh, hey Dan. I haven’t seen you in a while. What does it
mean that the least will be the greatest?"
Yet again the door comes open, and Bob waffles in. "Whoa,
everybody’s here. I never thought you guys liked to party. I want
to know about the best reason for having a party."
Suzie watched the three roommates. It was obvious that they were
glad to see each other. They were really starting to get
comfortable with each other, and when the excitement subsided,
Suzie finally got to say something and asked, "Would you guys like
to have Thanksgiving dinner over at my friend’s apartment?"
The guys agreed. As they were driving to the apartment, the car
was silent, as each one was puzzling over their own questions.
Finally, Dan couldn’t take it any longer. Holding up his crumpled
flyer he asked, "What is this Bible study thing really about?"
Suzie said there wasn’t one. No one had showed up. But she then
related to them the spiritual passage about the pearl merchant who
searched all his life for the one perfect pearl, and when he
finally found it, he sold all that he owned so he could buy it.
"What is the thing that any of them would be willing to take
such a drastic action for?" she asked.
The guys talked about it among themselves, until they came to a
conclusion, which Ray presented. "We’ve realized our mistake. We
don’t love each other. We’ve all been using people in our lives for
our own selfish purposes. What do you think we can do to change?"
he said.
Suzie pulled up to her friend’s apartment, stopping short of the
curb, and said, "Jesus can help you love other people. He will fill
your unique needs better than you ever can."
"Let’s celebrate our new lives," exclaimed Bob. Starting that
night, the roommates became close to one other. They thanked God
for each other, and for revealing himself so intimately during this
time of Thanksgiving. By the end of the evening, they were each
reflecting to themselves with a mix of humility and wonder – can
anything be this good?
Andrew Svitek