A little miracle in Hedrick Hall

Published: Monday, December 1, 1997

Monday, December 1, 1997

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