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Articles
Memories
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The Life of Ben Ries: Faith, Family, Friends
by: Justin Fisher
How many of you can think of someone that
has impacted your life so greatly that you swear you will never
forget them? Of those of you that can, do you ever find yourself
longing to tell another soul what that person taught you and how
it affected your life? Just as you desire to speak that wisdom
and passion to someone, today I ask that you allow me to share
with you a story of a boy that touched my life and taught me the
true meaning in the words faith, family, and friends.
I still remember it as if it were yesterday.
A young, short boy wearing a Chicago Cubs hat walked over my way
after a Sunday morning church service back home. We made small
talk about the Cubbies: how last year was an "off year"
for them and that this year was it, this was the year that the
Cubbies would finally make it back to the World Series, all this
too common for any Cubs fan. We continued in our conversation
and I told him how I was doing at college and how great wrestling
was going, all without letting him know that I had yet to win
my first match. I mentioned how I had been praying for him and
had passed on prayer requests for him to my friends at school.
He thanked me and gave me a hug, his arms just high enough to
wrap just above my waist. I could feel the frailty in his grip,
but also an indescribable power pulsing from his inmost being.
Afterwards, he told me to keep doing my best at school and never
give up. I replied that I wouldn't let him down, and then we left
the church to go to our separate homes. It was just a few short
months later my friend died, but not before leaving a legacy that
continues to inspire countless people, including myself, through
the simple words inscribed on a bracelet in his memory: faith,
family, and friends.
My friend's name is Ben Ries, and he was
first diagnosed with brain cancer on April 28, 2000, but overcame
it. About two years later it resurfaced, and Ben died of brain
cancer on June 1, 2005. He was just 12 years old when he passed,
but had already accomplished much of what I hope to accomplish
in a lifetime.
Ben lived life with such passion and trust
in the Lord, it was like a flame burning with great intensity,
a pillar of fire. Yet, you could feel the frailty of this young
man's life by looking at his appearance, but it wasn't until you
heard him speak or looked into his eyes that you sensed the Holy
Spirit moving with awe-inspiring authority. Although stricken
with a terrible disease, I believe that God continued to pour
down blessings upon my friend and was not forsaken. I remember
hearing about Ben speaking at the University of Iowa Children's
Hospital to kids stricken with many different diseases. Listening
to the reaction of the children to Ben's story of surviving cancer
was beyond words. The hope he gave was something only God could
have expressed through a servant's heart. It was by hearing stories
like this that I wasn't surprised Ben wanted to become a preacher
when he got older.
Through his faithful obedience, Ben was rewarded
with gifts beyond worldly measure. He was given an understanding
of truth. Ben could see the brightest ray of light in every situation,
no matter how dim it seemed. He was just like Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abed-Nego being thrown into the furnace. Ben trusted God with
such faith that he knew God had the power to save him, and even
if He didn't, that it didn't make Him any less powerful but instead
all the more. That faith is the same faith that, even through
death, continues to instill a flame in the hearts of those that
know his story.
But Ben also understood the importance of
family and friends, in that order. The Ries family was a flower
that blossomed in love through the trials given to them in Ben.
He knew that God had blessed him with his family for a reason,
and they knew that they had him as a son and brother for a reason
as well. Through their united faith as a family, the Ries clan
was able to give the outcome of Ben's life to God, a huge burden
taken from their shoulders. This extended beyond the family to
friends, resulting in a flood of support from finances to prayer.
The faithfulness of one boy, a family, and a community of friends
blessed Ben with being amongst us another 5 years after his initial
diagnosis, much longer than anticipated by most doctors.
Faith, family, and friends produced the greatest
gift of all.Love. Please say that word with me, "Love."
Just by uttering it, you can feel a sense of warmth fill this
room. 1 Corinthians reads, "And now these three remain: faith,
hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." It is
this universal concept of Love reaching across all barriers that
continues to burn ceaselessly in the hearts of countless people
across the globe. Whether it is sickness, race, language, or even
death.love still comes out on top. By this great gift of God,
people are truly united together, as well as freed from the tyranny
of human limitation and sin. I thank God everyday for the many
blessings he has given me, especially those he has reminded me
of through Ben. One of the greatest lessons I learned from this
young man's life was the importance of Christ's love, and how
it's shown through these three things: Faith, Family, and Friends.
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