A different side of Ajax

The Off-Topic forum for anything non-LDS related, such as sports or politics. Rated PG through PG-13.
Marcus
God
Posts: 5037
Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2021 10:44 pm

Re: A different side of Ajax

Post by Marcus »

My sympathies, ajax.
huckelberry
God
Posts: 2579
Joined: Wed Oct 28, 2020 3:48 pm

Re: A different side of Ajax

Post by huckelberry »

Ajax, we all share grief and do not wish it to find others. I wish and hope comfort and courage for you and your friends.
User avatar
ajax18
God
Posts: 2717
Joined: Tue Nov 03, 2020 9:12 pm

Re: A different side of Ajax

Post by ajax18 »

I appreciate the kind words you all. Our league has put together a bank account to donate to his widow. We wore pins tonight for his memory. I think we're going to have a tournament named after him as well. Most of us are still in denial. But at least some good things are getting done.
And when the Confederates saw Jackson standing fearless like a stonewall, the army of Northern Virginia took courage and drove the federal army off their land.
User avatar
Jersey Girl
God
Posts: 6828
Joined: Mon Oct 26, 2020 3:51 am
Location: In my head

Re: A different side of Ajax

Post by Jersey Girl »

ajax18 wrote:
Fri Jun 03, 2022 2:32 pm
I don't think that there is any evidence (whether factual or scriptural) that the better you are, the more likely you are to die young.
No, I'm relying on near death experiences in my struggle to find answers as to why a young healthy doctor of physical therapy and devout Christian with so much left to give would be taken from us. But I'd agree that from my earthly experience, it just looks like chance.
I think I have only read a few posts from you that I thought were truly sincere in nature or what I might call the "real" ajax. And yet here you are. And here we are with you.

Sometimes I think...it's not about why God took a certain person. Sometimes I think that God doesn't take people out but rather that He receives us when we leave. The difference, of course, is that we are human and we feel it through our human emotions and view it with our limited human understanding--glass darkly.

We want to know why.

At the same time, I wonder if what God looks for is our response to it. Maybe a sudden loss is chance. Is our response to it also chance? I think not. Do others benefit from our response? Do we somehow benefit spiritually from our response as well? I think God looks for our response to everything. I think humanity disappoints Him on a regular basis. You see it everywhere and if we humans were doing what God wanted us to do, the headlines wouldn't be what they are. But enough of that...

I am sorry for the loss of your friend, ajax. He was so young. A life seemingly cut short to our way of thinking and yet, I wonder if his was a short life of strong influence. He seemed to have influenced you. Maybe you can take the things you admired most about him or his life, and keep them in the world by adopting them in your own life. I imagine that you and your tennis friends (and his professional colleagues/patients) will camp in denial for a short while. Denial is a true blessing so long as our stay is temporary.

If I might be so bold as to suggest that you and your circle of friends look to see if there are ways to be present long term for his wife without intruding of course. She might be needing practical help for some time into the future. Someone to chat with later on even just about casual things. Normal things. New normal things.

Here is a link to the meal train website if you need it. I've used it many times and it works like a charm.

https://www.mealtrain.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQ ... LVEALw_wcB

Trust that I will pray for you and yours over there. You can talk about it here if you feel like it. We'll read it. Many or most of us will respond. Like we just did here.

Hoping I didn't overstep any bounds with this.
We only get stronger when we are lifting something that is heavier than what we are used to. ~ KF

Slava Ukraini!
Gunnar
God
Posts: 2339
Joined: Thu Oct 29, 2020 6:32 pm
Location: California

Re: A different side of Ajax

Post by Gunnar »

I sympathize too, ajax. I know how heart-breaking it can be to lose a beloved friend. But I can't help wondering how even after having experienced such a close friendship with black man, you can still harbor such seemingly racist attitudes, and even seem to favor segregationist policies.

I love seeing this good side of you, and it cheers me to think that you may not be completely irredeemable after all. :)
No precept or claim is more suspect or more likely to be false than one that can only be supported by invoking the claim of Divine authority for it--no matter who or what claims such authority.
User avatar
ajax18
God
Posts: 2717
Joined: Tue Nov 03, 2020 9:12 pm

Re: A different side of Ajax

Post by ajax18 »

I sympathize too, ajax. I know how heart-breaking it can be to lose a beloved friend. But I can't help wondering how even after having experienced such a close friendship with black man, you can still harbor such seemingly racist attitudes, and even seem to favor segregationist policies.
Well Gunnar this is going to sound offensive to you but you asked. My practice partner helped me realize that what I wanted was not segregation of races but rather segregation of political ideologies. My practice partner was a Republican who worked himself through school and worked six days/week just like me. He was only married once. He had no illegitimate children. He was a devout Christian. I never once got the impression he felt like I owed him something because he was black and I was white. He never accused me of thinking I was superior to him (probably because I didn't.) The only thing I ever felt from him was Christian brotherly love and a shared love of tennis. We agreed about what a scam the SSI/Disability program had become and neither of us liked socialism. We both lamented the Covid shutdown and the damage it had done to the world economy. But he was better than me in that he didn't dwell on it. We mostly shared faith promoting stories of spiritual things and the nature of God when we weren't talking about tennis. I believe the brother of Jared in the Book of Mormon was a black man of African decent, and I can't help but see my friend when I read the Book of Ether. I hope when my time comes to enter the spirit world I'm segregated amongst people like him.
And when the Confederates saw Jackson standing fearless like a stonewall, the army of Northern Virginia took courage and drove the federal army off their land.
User avatar
Morley
God
Posts: 1560
Joined: Wed Oct 28, 2020 6:17 pm
Location: detail from Alice Neel's 1980 self portrait

Re: A different side of Ajax

Post by Morley »

And the ugly facade is reestablished.
User avatar
Jersey Girl
God
Posts: 6828
Joined: Mon Oct 26, 2020 3:51 am
Location: In my head

Re: A different side of Ajax

Post by Jersey Girl »

This was my favorite thing: No he wasn't an antivaxxer though we both agreed the shutdown was idiotic and yes we hit the courts together, illegally climbing the fences to train, nearly 3 times/week when we weren't allowed to work for 8 weeks in 2020.
We only get stronger when we are lifting something that is heavier than what we are used to. ~ KF

Slava Ukraini!
User avatar
Doctor CamNC4Me
God
Posts: 8981
Joined: Wed Oct 28, 2020 2:04 am

Re: A different side of Ajax

Post by Doctor CamNC4Me »

ajax18 wrote:
Sat Jun 04, 2022 12:03 pm
I sympathize too, ajax. I know how heart-breaking it can be to lose a beloved friend. But I can't help wondering how even after having experienced such a close friendship with black man, you can still harbor such seemingly racist attitudes, and even seem to favor segregationist policies.
Well Gunnar this is going to sound offensive to you but you asked. My practice partner helped me realize that what I wanted was not segregation of races but rather segregation of political ideologies. My practice partner was a Republican who worked himself through school and worked six days/week just like me. He was only married once. He had no illegitimate children. He was a devout Christian. I never once got the impression he felt like I owed him something because he was black and I was white. He never accused me of thinking I was superior to him (probably because I didn't.) The only thing I ever felt from him was Christian brotherly love and a shared love of tennis. We agreed about what a scam the SSI/Disability program had become and neither of us liked socialism. We both lamented the Covid shutdown and the damage it had done to the world economy. But he was better than me in that he didn't dwell on it. We mostly shared faith promoting stories of spiritual things and the nature of God when we weren't talking about tennis. I believe the brother of Jared in the Book of Mormon was a black man of African decent, and I can't help but see my friend when I read the Book of Ether. I hope when my time comes to enter the spirit world I'm segregated amongst people like him.
Sorry about your tennis bro. Sucks.

Since you brought up politics, I want to recommend to you a book I just read that reaffirmed my desire to be a radical centrist. Much in the same vein that you were able to accommodate a friendship with a Black man because he approximated your political beliefs, thus bringing you back to the Middle with regard to race relations, this book was is a good exegesis for centrism (in my opinion).

The Great Experiment: Why Diverse Democracies Fall Apart and How They Can Endure

Amazon link to buy:

https://www.amazon.com/Great-Experiment ... 952&sr=8-1

- Doc
Hugh Nibley claimed he bumped into Adolf Hitler, Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, Gertrude Stein, and the Grand Duke Vladimir Romanoff. Dishonesty is baked into Mormonism.
User avatar
Res Ipsa
God
Posts: 9569
Joined: Mon Oct 26, 2020 6:44 pm
Location: Playing Rabbits

Re: A different side of Ajax

Post by Res Ipsa »

I’m sorry for your loss, Ajax. Losing a good friend is tough.
he/him
When I go to sea, don’t fear for me. Fear for the storm.

Jessica Best, Fear for the Storm. From The Strange Case of the Starship Iris.
Post Reply