On Friday March 2, 2007, a bus full of baseball players from Bluffton, Ohio headed south to Sarasota, Fla., to kick off their spring season.
Surely no one anticipated that five members of that team would not return alive when their bus drove off the highway overpass.
The tragedy affects me a bit more than it probably does the rest of ETSU because my home town is 40 minutes from Bluffton University and I know a few of the students who attend or attended school there.
My mom called me earlier and told me about the accident. Later I watched the news and read more about it on the Internet.
As all my friends here at ETSU left campus to head to their spring break destinations, I sat in my dorm room thinking about the reality of what happened that morning. Though I did not know any of the players, I can feel for the team members who survived, and the parents who were forced to arrange the funerals of their children.
The accident happened nearly three weeks ago and as time goes on I am able to get a grasp on the emotions I feel regarding this tragedy.
Initially I felt confused about the situation. I didn’t quite know how to accept the fact that five lives had ended in such an untimely manner. But as I evaluated the situation regarding the baseball team as a whole, I suppose the single word that stuck out most in my mind is forgiveness.
Motivational speaker Max DePree once said, “Without forgiveness, there can be no real freedom to act within a group.” In situations such as this I believe the only thing Bluffton College and all others affected by the accident can do to cope with their pain is forgive.
In respect to my prior statement I ask that each of you evaluate your own life. Every person on this earth is a teammate in some respect.
At times people hurt us or circumstances alter our plans. Our initial reaction is to be angry that something unexpectedly diverted our path. In regards to my own experience, hanging on to anger is only a step backward and in stepping back we prevent true progression.
Sometimes our hearts just need to make peace and understand that some of the greatest glories in life can occur when we let go of those things which we have no control and simply say, “I am ready to forgive.”
In regards to each individual’s pain and anger, I can only say that there is indeed a time to be angry and that pain is only expected, but only give that anger its season.
Do not dwell on the pain but instead progress from anger to forgiveness. Forgiving does not mean you must also forget.
We will all carry burdens with us throughout our lives but what is done with the lessons learned is up to each individual. All of us suffer, some more than others, but being able to let go of that hurt allows a glimpse of hope and faith.
Once we cling tight to our hope and our faith we allow doors to open in our lives so that we may progress and this is what makes life beautiful.

Author