Well-wishes for JT

So, this summer, one of my community theatre friends, a man named JT, was in a motorcycle accident. I heard about the incident while at camp, and this is a little something I wrote in my spare time to assess what I was thinking.

*****

I turn my dice bag over in my hands. It relaxes me – the familiar clack of colliding dice, the soft feel of the fabric of the bag. Out of place as the sound is amongst the chatter of rock games here at camp (dice rolling seems not to fit in with Bob the Weasel and Doctor & Germ) it is a comfort to hear a sound I’ve come to love here in this place I’ve come to love.

The news has struck me completely. It overwhelms me and consumes my thoughts until nothing else is left. I cried in worship that night, harder than I ever had previously. My prayers and thoughts were all concerning the accident, and I just couldn't keep a counselor-face on anymore. I broke down. I kept hearing others telling me that everything would be all right, not to cry, to smile, but that just was not what I wanted to hear in the slightest. I wanted real news, real advice, real support. And, unknowingly to those who gave it, that is what I ended up receiving. The kind words, the prayers, the hugs I received in the next few days, were exactly what I needed. And, even more so, was the card. I found it on my bed (I knew that I was getting it, the sender told me so) and opened it gently.

The striking thing about the card was the coincidence of the words that were written. The sender had told me to remember to breathe, and given me a tidbit of biblical comfort within - "Gracious God, calm my heart." Breathe, the word being like a breath in itself, is one of my meditation words - I write it, I recite it, I sing it, I live it. And the biblical tidbit was the exact one that I had randomly received at worship circle with Krysta that night. The coincidence was too great for me to believe it was pure coincidence. Even the sender of the card herself hadn't realized just how she had done it. The card was exactly what I needed to keep moving, to keep on going, to know everything was in good hands.

*****

Everything is fine now, and JT is well on the road to recovery, but I wanted to share this piece of writing with all of you.