Jonathan

I wanted to take a few minutes to write about someone who became very dear to me in a very short time. Jonathan and I had been exchanging regular e-mails asking each other everything about our lives and hopes and dreams. I tend to be a very private person (runs in my family), so I wouldn't normally share this much with someone I've only known for such a short time, but after reading his first few e-mails I found myself surprisingly comfortable with this partial stranger.

Over the months of getting to know each other I learned about his past, his hopes for his future, and even the sweet little details like what he wants to name his first child. We talked theology, philosophy, literature, movies, and anything else that popped up. Eventually we made plans to get together and went out for tea at a local tea house. Despite live music that, though well performed, made conversation difficult, we talked and enjoyed our time together. We continued to date unofficially until he asked if I would be interested in making it official. We had planned to discuss it while shopping for furniture and decorations for his new apartment. That day he left me a message saying he was too sick to get out of bed. I was a bit concerned when he didn't respond to the e-mails I had sent him over that weekend. By the next week I received a message from his parents saying he was very unwell and that they had taken him home to be cared for. The next day I received text messages from his family saying that he was in the ICU with viral pneumonia.

I went to the Hospital to see him the next day and met his family. I was very concerned seeing him literally covered in tubes and looking very pale. I stood beside him holding his hand hoping that despite being unconscious that he might be comforted by my presence. To my relief he survived the weekend and then the next day and the next. Exactly one week after I heard that he had been rushed to the Hospital, I receive an e-mail from his family saying that he had passed away that morning. I was pretty upset and rattled since I was so sure that he would pull through. That was about a week and a half ago. I've felt sad that he wont be doing the things he dreamed of doing before he died, that I wont ever open up another sweet e-mail from him (he was a really good writer), and that he left behind so many people who cared deeply for him. It doesn't seem fair, but at least I have the many letters we wrote one another to remember him by.

I miss you Jonathan 

Jonathan had recently begun a lucrative photography career, to see some of his beautiful photos in his general portfolio please click on the link below:

http://jonharris.zenfolio.com/portfolio/slideshow

Jonathan's view of theology
"I love your mixed-bag approach to Christianity. To be perfectly honest, I believe that really is the kind of faith we are called to have. To be blindly devoted to one denomination's delineation of the world can be remarkably damaging unless that devotion is born from it's alignment with one's own in-depth personal studying and growth. I fully believe that God calls us to be readers and thinkers, avoiding spiritual and theological stagnation wherever possible." Jonathan, in one of his e-mails.

Jonathan's favorite author/quote
"A young man who wishes to remain a sound Atheist cannot be too careful of his reading. There are traps everywhere - 'Bibles laid open, millions of surprises,' as Herbert says, 'fine nets and stratagems.' God is, if I may say it, very unscrupulous."
C.S. Lewis

Rest in Peace Dear Jonathan (1984-2009)

“I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge -- myth is more potent than history -- dreams are more powerful than facts -- hope always triumphs over experience -- laughter is the cure for grief -- love is stronger than death.” Anonymous