Monday, November 23, 2020
Greg Trickett Remembers Ben Arbour
With the recent and very tragic death of EPS member, Ben Arbour, and his dear wife, Meg, EPS President, Mike Austin, has invited friends and colleagues of Ben to offer their reflections on Ben's life, his care for philosophy, and his ministry to others.
Ben's friend and colleague, Greg Trickett (Associate Professor of Philosophy at Weatherford College) offers this personal reflection:
On the night of Thursday, November 5th, just after midnight, Ben and Meg Arbour were tragically killed while coming home from a date. They were hit by a street racer less than two blocks from their home. I heard the news of their deaths on Friday morning at around 10am. In that instant, time slowed and my world changed. Those of you who met Ben know that he didn’t know a stranger. You also know that he and Meg touched and positively impacted so many lives. If you didn’t know him, chances are you knew others who did. Within the Christian Philosophical community, there were far fewer than six degrees that separated Ben from any other person. Personally, for me he was one of a handful of my closest friends.Ben thrived on his friends, they were like oxygen for him, and he was in his element in large crowds where he knew lots of people. I went to several conferences with him and it was typical to find Ben at lunch or dinner trying his best to gather every single one of his friends to go somewhere for a meal. I think he enjoyed those gatherings more than the presentations, and he really enjoyed the presentations.But I enjoyed the smaller gatherings, especially when just the five of us, Ben and I along with Jay Howell, Brad Palmer, and David Williams, would hang out. The last thing we did was go golfing for Brad’s and my birthdays. Two weeks before that, we’d gathered at my house to play the board game, Pandemic which Ben thoroughly enjoyed.It hurts. And I know his family is hurting exponentially more. Please pray for Ben and Meg’s four children as they cope and begin to face a life without their parents. (If you are wanting to help, please consider contributing to a fund set up for their kids through Wedgewood Baptist Church at Arbourfund.org. Make sure to designate your donation to “Arbour fund.”) But there is comfort in all this. It is a comfort found in the faith and hope to which Ben and Meg held. Their faith was in Christ who came so that all may be saved and find hope; their hope was in the resurrection. I look forward to seeing Ben again. Much to Ben’s pleasure, it’ll be a bigger group next time, but I know I’ll see him again, because my faith and hope are the same.
Greg and Ben co-authored a 2018 article in Philosophia Christi, "Evil Does Not Pose Any Special Problem for Berkeleyan Idealism: An Idealist Response to John DePoe."
Labels: ben arbour, remembering ben arbour
