Monday Ministerial Musings
By Rev. Mark William Ennis
2023 Blog #4
January 23, 2023
An Unexpected Reunion
I graduated from high school in 1976 and I haven’t seen many people from high school since graduation. I did go to our 40th reunion in 2016. But haven’t kept in touch with very many of those classmates since. One exception is Nick with whom I have been Facebook friends with for a number of years. This past weekend I had the honor of officiating at Nick’s daughter’s wedding. It was a beautiful event but it had a surprise for me that I never saw coming.
Unlike me, Nick has kept in touch with many of our classmates. He went through grammar school and high school with a core of friends and these people have stayed friends all these years. They even have get-together several times a year. This group were all wedding guests and I had the privilege of seeing these old classmates once again. Nick made sure that we all got to sit at the same table. It was like a high school reunion.
I admire this group of guys who have stayed so close with one another. Several times a year they have gotten together. They have attended the funerals for the parents of one another. They even gathered together when one member suffered the tragic death of a daughter. It has been forty seven years since graduation, yet this group formed long before high school. They have been a support system for more than fifty years. In a world where relationships are increasingly temporary, this group has maintained permanent relationships. I admire and envy this group. These people know what true friendships are.
There is something for all of us to learn from this group. Their friendships have been maintained because they are present for one another. How present are we for those who we know? Are we as willing to serve others as much as this group does? I wish that faith communities took care of one another to the same extent that this group does. If we want to be served we must be willing to serve others and that service is contagious. I pray that this is a lesson that we will all learn just a little bit better.
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#StJosephofthePalisades #HighSchoolReunion
#Friendships #Relationships
To read more of Pastor Mark’s writings, please order copy of his book: https://deepriverbooks.com/books/the-circle-of-seven/
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