Six Degrees of John Mark Karr

John Mark Karr is his name. It meant nothing to me on Tuesday, but 24 hours later I find myself scanning my memory banks searching for the face that now seems very familiar. I have no direct thought of ever meeting him, but much like that cold going around the office; if you hear about it enough, you begin to feel the sniffles coming on. If somebody asked me straight out “Have you ever met or heard of John Mark Karr?” I’d have to say “not that I know of”. That being said, we did go to the University of North Alabama at the same time…so maybe the better answer should be “No I have no memory of meeting John Mark Karr. However, is it possible I have met him before? Yes it’s very likely”

Everybody remembers the game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. The game is based on the theory that everything can be traced back to Kevin Bacon in six progressions or less. For example: Everwood was a mildly successful show on the WB. Scott Wolf had a small part in Everwood. Scott Wolf was on Party of Five. He stared with Neive Campbell. Neive Campbell was in Wild Things…along with Kevin Bacon. That’s four steps to Kevin Bacon!! Anyway the point is I could very well be connected to John Mark Karr through 10 steps…or maybe 6…maybe 3.

I spent half my college career in the student center. Who’s to say that I didn’t walk past him on my way for coffee? Maybe I got up to go to class (it happened) and he was the next person to sit in my seat. Isn’t it possible that he once sat on the right side of the class and I sat on the left? We all know those classes are huge, he could have sat 3 rows over and I wouldn’t remember. After all, I was in a fraternity and killing brain cells by the thousands back then. How about this; I ate a salad. I ate the salad with a fork. The fork got sent the kitchen to be washed. The fork was cleaned and placed back in the bucket next to the plates. John Mark Karr had a taste for salad that day. That’s five steps!

It could have happened a million other ways, but let’s make things just a little more interesting. My grandfather was a missionary. He spent most of his time teaching the Bible in Bangkok, Thailand. He traveled the city on a regular basis. After over ten years of missionary work, he probably got around the country pretty good. I know he speaks the language fluently. Sure it’s been a while since he’s been there, but if we knew where to look I bet we could connect the dots right back to Mr. Karr. It might take 100 steps…it could be 4.

I know I will never be certain as to whether our paths have crossed, but I am positive of one thing…this world is not as big as it once was. More and more people are bumping into each other; every second new connections are being made. What scares me about John Mark Karr is that what if my connection wasn’t through 10 steps or 6, what if it’s only 1 step?