What More Indeed?

I was just looking back on my notes from the lectures this week, and I found a note that says, "Don't forget the soldier story!!!" It's such a beautifully heartbreaking story, and so I simply must share it with you.

There once were two boys who were closer than if they had been blood. They had sleepovers every week until they were in junior high, and the sleepovers turned into all nighters through their high school years. Girls came between them here and there, but their friendship only strengthened through the fights and hardships.

After receiving their diplomas, the young men immediately signed themselves up for the army. After boot camp, the friends were sent off to different bases, but they kept in touch as often as possible. Whenever they were assigned to the same place, they celebrated like there would be no tomorrow.

You know when you are such good friends with someone that you can just give them a look and they know what you are thinking? Well these guys were those kind of friends, and it saved their lives for a moment.

One day while under fire, one man gave the other a look from yards away that meant "Jump in the ditch when I do" (how that was communicated through the eyes I can't say, but I can say that they must have known each other extremely well). They both jumped in the ditch, and were followed by a shower of bullets that turned the opposite side of the ditch into Swiss cheese.

All they could do was look at each other through the smoke and laugh in relief. Suddenly, a hand grenade was thrown into the ditch directly between the two of them. Time seemed to stand still as they looked at each other one last time, the vhs's of their lives playing in fast-forward each in their own minds. All at once they came back to reality, and one man winked at the other before throwing himself on top of the grenade... Which proceeded to detonate through his body.

His friend was found in the ditch hours later, still in the same position he had been since hurling himself into safety at his comrade's cue, covered in the remains of the man who saved his life. He was carried out on a stretcher as he was in shock, and did not stop crying for days.

His friend's mother took him in, because his mother had died years ago, and she had just lost her only son. The man went into a deep depression over the loss of his friend, and was constantly haunted by that wink. The wink that said "I love you enough to die for you, and here I go." would not cease tormenting his mind. Would he have done the same?

Eventually his depression led to disillusionment and lack of sensitivity. He finally realized this when one day after struggling with a question in his head for hours, he walked into the kitchen and said to his new mother, "How could I know if he actually ever loved me?". In one swift movement she whipped around and furiously took hold of his shirt collar, pulled him down to her face and screamed "WHAT MORE COULD HE HAVE DONE FOR YOU?!?!?!?!!!"

What more indeed?

Only one other thing He could have done, and He did it. He did not remain dead, but loved us so much that He could not bear the thought of being separated from us by the grave. Not only did He die, but He came back to life in order to spend it for the rest of eternity with us. An eternity that starts here.

Selah.