Old Friends, New Chapters

Old Friends. New Chapters.
by Jason Cruise
 
Not long ago my wife and I attended my 20th high school reunion. I had waited for months for this day to arrive, for I really do miss the crew that I knew in those years. On a side note, there is a point of pain in going to these gigs, because you will inevitably see a small percentage of people who have yet to gain one pound, have seen no wrinkle in the mirror, nor have lost one, single hair from their head, in all these twenty years. Why does God choose to give this sort of blessing to some and withhold it from the vast majority of others? I find no real reason for it, and when I cross over the river, I plan to ask Him about it once we have talked about more important things for a while before turning to the smaller matters.
 
For the most of us, our faces had changed. Our dancing, while pathetic in concept, was at least an attempt to remember how we once could groove to Journey or Tone Loc. Our stories were vastly different from those we were writing twenty years ago. The chapters were filled with victories and defeats, and you could see evidence of both in our eyes. The beauty of it all was that we were together, and this time around, it seemed as if we really did just want to talk. Our 15th reunion had, for some reason, failed to materialize, and so for many of us this was the first time we'd seen one another in a decade. For that reason alone, it was sweet to hug someone and look into their eyes, meet their spouse, and just catch up.
 
For the next few days, I could not help but think of my classmates. Their faces filled my mind's eye. It made me think about Heaven.
 
I'm forever bothered about the vast majority of people's view of Heaven, for many make is sound like this great family reunion, when the true star of Heaven will be Jesus and not some uncle or business partner I've not seen in thirty years. That being said, I cannot help but anticipate what Heaven will be like when we are able to share time with one another. What a healing moment it will be to sit down and talk, with stories that have no recollection of pain or disappointment. I eagerly await the timeless feeling that will be ours in Christ when we all can share life that ages not.
 
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away. And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new."
 
- Revelation 21:1-4

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