Passing Notes

I was looking through an old journal (one of my first) and found this inscription by James Cowart, scribbled during the Sunday PM church service in the Sport Center, with the dim, blocky image from the screen reflecting on the high gloss floors and the echoes making a blessing virtually impossible...

This is good stuff, Jesse. It is great to read not only words or pictures but also thoughts, dreams, fears, regrets and prayers. Remember to record it all, good + bad, easy + hard. B/c the day will come when you will look back, + see God! Then you will be blessed to see him even when you did not see him. Like a child looking up at the bottom of a quilt that his grandmother is quilting, so we sometimes look up to God to see the bottom of His work, ugly + confusing. But wait, the day will come when she + He will turn the quilt over + then we shall see the whole picture! It is all in perspective!

Jesse, you been a great friend. And now 11 days till parting I say thank-you for everything. I wish you the best that God has for you. Your relationship [Heather], during + after, has been + great example to me so it was not totally in vain!

Always,
James A. Cowart

Sitting there in that impersonal arena, we all felt something very personal. It was bigger than any of us, but made up of all of us. I knew the end of college would mark the beginning of good things, but, like death, it would also mark the end of some good things. Those were indeed good days, the days of friendship.