Mortality

Mortality

As a senior in high school, I was shocked when an underclassman was killed while driving to school.
I was not the only one shocked. The whole school was stunned. We were faced with our own mortality.
I imagine the students at Suwannee High School in neighboring Live Oak felt much of the same shock that my schoolmates and I felt so many years ago.
His name was Chris. I first met Chris when he attended the homecoming at my church last October. He came because his then-girlfriend, Mary Pate, invited him.
From all accounts, from Mary, her parents and Chris’s house parents, he was a super nice guy who never got into trouble despite being a resident at the Florida Sheriff’s Boys Ranch.
Chris was 17 and, like most 17-year-olds, Chris liked to play and, occasionally, show off; after all, he was a teenager.
Chris was doing backflips off the bridge at Suwannee Springs on Friday afternoon, having a friend videotape him with the friend’s digital camera. One of the flips went wrong and Chris drowned.
A memorial service will be held for Chris on Sunday, August 24, at 2 p.m. in the chapel at the Boys Ranch, located at 1813 Cecil Webb Place, in Live Oak.
I know that Mary and her parents were shaken by Chris’s death. I am also sure that Chris’s own family and his fellow students at the Boys Ranch are also hurt. I can tell them that time will help, but it doesn’t necessarily heal. The best thing to do is to remember the good times shared with Chris.
For those who have been struck by the fact that they are mortal, I encourage them to embrace the mortality and, for those who haven’t accepted Christ, to give their hearts to Jesus Christ, who will grant them eternal life in Heaven with Him.