ERIC M
“I knew he would be a true friend in the years to come.”
I first met James...
I first met James in the fall of 1998. We lived in the same suite in the dorms and he was the first person to greet me. We came from different backgrounds, which were immediately obvious, but as I soon learned, James was so nonjudgmental that within 5 minutes of conversation we realized our similar interest in music and hit it off. We spent around an hour in my room listening to lyrics and sounds of different bands. He had that smile of joy on his face the entire time and I realized that I was sitting next to a true musician who loved life. I never thought I would meet and like someone as quickly as I did James and knew he would be a true friend in the years to come.
Memorable moments...
I have so many memorable moments and long talks with James but what made him truly unique was his love for others. One night he called me into his room to look at an email he had just received. The email was about the antichrist and the coming new world order. At that time my faith in God was minimal but I always loved hearing James speak of what God had done for him. James began telling me that the enemy would try to prevent all from becoming a Christian if he could. Just then the fire alarm went off. We evacuated the dorms and were freezing in the parking lot with 400 other students. James came over and asked me if I thought it was a coincidence that we were just evacuated. We couldn’t continue our conversation because the parking lot was loud so James asked if we could take a walk and finish our talk. We walked through the Gerontology buildings and James spoke away about how blessed he was and knew there was a God. I expressed my concerns and frustrations and how I could not fathom the thought of a true God. James grinned and with a look of care asked if he could pray for me. Not really knowing what he meant I said “sure”. I began walking away and he stopped me and said he wanted to do it now. I closed my eyes and felt him holding my shoulder as he began to pray asking God to open the door in my heart. This was the first time anyone had prayed with me and was the real beginning of my walk with God. James was one friend who was never ashamed to share his faith in Christ and is still a role model to me because he allowed me to see the way.
Forever in our hearts...
James, thank you for caring about me so much and by opening the door into the most important thing in my life. You were the first person to show me how beautiful God was, not because you preached a certain script, but because you lived and walked with God which always showed through your smile of joy. You’ve had such an impact on my life and it hurts to lose you now but I am certain that we will be reunited soon.
Thank you for everything,
Eric
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I think of James when I listen to:
(click to listen)
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You gotta know about James
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James’ smile...how could you not smile back?