I Was There

In the humdrum of daily life, sometimes there is a moment that stands out.  A moment that one looks back on with amazement and the realization “I was there.”

One of my moments occurred during September of 1967 when I was a senior at Wheaton College.  We were required to attend chapel daily.  We sat in assigned seats, and someone checked at every chapel to make sure the assigned seat had someone sitting in it.  We were allowed a few cuts, but I rarely took them.  My senior year, my assigned seat was in the very back of the auditorium on the left aisle as one faced the platform. 

The chapel on that autumn day began as most others.  We must have sung a hymn, although I don’t remember which one.  The speaker was Dr. V. Raymond Edman, past-president of the college.  His topic was “Entering the Presence of the King.”  There was nothing remarkable about his beginning remarks.  He talked about meeting Ethiopian President Haile Selassie.  He spoke of the pomp involved in entering the throne room…the attitude of respect and reverence one felt.  He transitioned into observing the lack of reverence he often saw as people entered the chapel.  He was admonishing that we consider the attitude with which we should enter the presence of the King, and then right then and there…..

HE ENTERED THE KING’S PRESENCE.

He slumped behind the pulpit and fell sideways.  Even at the very back of the auditorium, I heard his head hit the hardwood floor of the stage.  As a nurse, I immediately surmised, and I think I whispered quietly to myself “cardiac arrest.”

Every muscle in my body tensed.  I was ready to spring out of my seat and run forward.  Then I said to myself, “You are sitting as far away as you possibly could.  There are probably 30 nurses sitting closer to the stage.”  I saw a friend named Jan move quickly from her seat and head forward.  She was only a few rows from the front, and I knew she was working her way through college as an ICU nurse.  There was also a coach who was certainly versed in emergency care seated on the platform.  I stayed put.

I’m not sure how much time elapsed, but the current president at that time, who was also on the platform, went to the pulpit, prayed and dismissed us.  No one spoke as we left the chapel.  I saw some of my friends standing in the grass across the street and joined them.  We talked quietly about what we had just seen.

For the next hour, there was almost no conversation.  Normally one is not aware of the sounds of footsteps on the sidewalk.  The surrounding chatter and laughter drown out the sound of shoes on pavement and cement.  But for that hour, all I heard was the sound of footsteps.

Eventually, the bells in the tower of the chapel began to ring.  We all knew instinctively that Dr. Edman had not been revived.  That he had irretrievably entered the King’s presence.

I have been present at the time of death for others…patients and family members.  But, Dr. Edman’s death was unique.  God decided to take him in a very public way as he was speaking in a place he loved about the God he loved. 

An absolutely amazing event…and I saw it with my own eyes…I was there.