Sunday afternoon, March 24th, there was an avalanche in Revelstone, B.C. Canada and a 38 year old man lost his life. His two friends were able to dig him out of the compacted snow and while one went for help the other administered CPR. It was too late, their friend had died. I can’t even imagine all of the “if only’s” that went through their minds. “If only he hadn’t gone to check the ledge…., if only we had stopped him…., if only we had just kept skiing down the mountain…..”, if only, if only, if only.

It is hard to make any sense out of some events that happen in our lives. Many times they don’t make any sense until years later when we can see a bigger picture of our lives. Time puts a different perspective on things. We can see how that event is woven into the fabric of our lives and it’s importance to the rest of the picture. It fits and makes sense.

For me, during times of hardship or tragedy I always go back to the words of Archbishop Oscar Romero (the archbishop of El Salvador in the 1980′s) when he said in a prayer of total surrender and trust in God, ” I can’t….You must….I’m yours….Show me the way….” I repeat these words over and over to myself and they give me peace. So many times it is hard to understand the why of things, but I believe that if we can keep an open heart during these trying times, unexpected blessings will come as well.

I pray for the friends and family of this young man who died in the avalanche. He was in the avalanche for a few minutes but his friends and family will be in different kind of avalanche for years……

avalanche, Canada, Revelstone, Romero, tragedy

This is a very exciting time for Kris and I as our labor of love – Avalanche: Lessons of Love – makes its debut. The level of support from family, friends and in some cases, complete strangers, has been incredible. We hope this website will act as a forum for those who have read the book to discuss their impressions of the book and its messages. We look forward to hearing from you in the days ahead ….

-Steve Oddo

No tags