Schadenfreude Has Its Limits
As much as I like to joke around about the UNC-Duke rivalry, schadenfreude has its limits. It goes without saying (but I’m going to say it anyway) that the feeling doesn’t extend to a tragic situation like this.
As the father of three sons who are increasingly out and about and pushing the envelope of safety, this one hits home. UNC mascot Jason Ray sounds like the kind of son that anyone would be proud to claim. My prayers go out for his family, friends, the UNC community and the unfortunate driver who was an unwitting participant in this tragic event.
Over the past month, Number One Son has had two close brushes with death. The first came on a trip home from a basketball game in Tuscaloosa when he topped a knoll on a stormy night and encountered a tree across the road. He managed to swerve around it but ended up facing the other way as he skidded to a stop. He never left the road, but it shook him up pretty good.
This past Sunday, he was enjoying the unseasonably warm Alabama weather while riding a jet ski on the Tennessee River. He had come to a stop when another driver accidentally rammed him from the side. He and his passenger were both thrown into the water, and the other jet ski skimmed across his head with a glancing blow. Thankfully, his passenger was not hurt, and Number One got off relatively easy with a large welt and a 3-ibuprofen headache.
Now I know how the physics of these things work–a few milliseconds and a few millimeters are the difference between a funny story told around a school lunchroom table and two parents and an entire community immersed in grief. One thing I do not understand is why Jason is dead and Number One is alive. That is a great mystery, one that stirs within me the utmost in humility.
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Terri
I had heard that he was in critical condition. It makes me scared for my nephews and thankful that I have survived all the close calls there have been in my 43 years.
Double vision
When one looks back at their life, he or she has to wonder how any of us make it past the age of 21 or 22. It seems like those are the most dangerous years. But as I age and see friends develop cancer and have heart attacks and other ailments I’m starting to relish the fact that I’ve made it this far.
I’ve always said life is like that merry go round on that playground at elementary school. Some kids fall off when the speed gets raised, some never get on, and others are able to hold on until the thing comes to a stop. It seems unfair sometimes that everyone can’t make it until it stops.
It’s still one of the great mysteries. We are suppose to celebrate entering the church triumphant. I guess I’m one of those who want to go to heaven but don’t want to die.
Mike the Eyeguy
I have often thought that it would have been easier to celebrate death if one could have touched a dead man rising or talk to someone who had.
But two thousand years later, there are times when I feel such talk is so much whistling in the dark. Admittedly, those times are not among my finer moments.
Stoogelover
When we are in heaven and can know the reality of our lives (if that is a part of the hereafter), I think the greater miracles of God will be those of timing. How often have we been spared injury or death by a matter of seconds … and we never knew it?
Mike the Eyeguy
Maybe ignorance truly is bliss.