Summertime!
June 30th, 2009
It’s summertime. Mosquitos, cicadas, sunburns, and reunions. They all sound like a revisit to the plagues of
Why do people like reunions? I went to my wife’s 10-year high school reunion as well as my own 10-year reunion. The most frequently-heard comment at both was: “You haven’t changed a bit.” The most frequently-thought idea was: “I look so young; I can’t believe I graduated with these over-weight, wrinkled losers.” Self-perception is a strange thing. We simply can’t see in ourselves what is so apparent in others. To underscore that absurdity, Jesus made a joke about a man with a 2x4 in his eye criticizing his neighbor for having a speck of sawdust in his (Matthew 7:3-5). Some things never change.
Speaking of reunions, the Owens family is having a reunion this summer. Not sure how I feel. On the one hand, it will be nice to see everybody. On the other hand, it will be difficult because of who’s not there. We probably won’t play kick the can or any of the other games we used to play as children but I guarantee we will talk about the old times. The conversation about the past activities will bring joy to our hearts and smiles to our faces. Then, we’ll talk about how good it was to revisit our childhood and tell ourselves that we “must do this” more often.
I often hear believers talk about their involvement in God’s Kingdom in the same way. They have fond memories and wouldn’t take anything for their experiences. Like children grown up, all they do is talk. They miss the joy of assisting God in the new-birth process. They miss the fulfillment of reaching out to someone in need and meeting that need. It’s too bad that most of us stop doing and began talking about what we’ve done. Too bad. Reliving the past is never a substitute for living in the present.
Posted by Bill Owens
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