I just returned from my 40th High School class reunion. It was my first. Life’s events kept me away for the previous 39. It was wonderful to see friends I had not seen in such a long time. We caught up on old times & swapped memories, as we could at our age. Before the reunion the planning committee sought to gather information to form a booklet to help class members catch up on one another. One section of the information sheet asked for ‘Memories’. Still being somewhat mischievous and realizing that others laugh at me so I might as well get a head start, I wrote my memories as follows; “I remember being 6’ 4”, being elected Most Handsome, Wittiest, Most Likely to Succeed, Captain of the Football & Basketball team, Valedictorian and Mr. Lee High. However, I have taken a lot of prescription medication and consumed a number of Diet Dr. Peppers with aspartame over the years so I may have forgotten a thing or two. Funny, I looked back in the yearbook and they only listed me as Sports Editor.”
Obviously those memories are a bit exaggerated but I thought it would give a chuckle to those who bothered reading the book after the reunion. Little did I know the MC began the program & and my introduction, as the class member who would pronounce a blessing or Invocation on the evening, using my ‘memories’. She then introduced the 6’4” ‘Pastor Billy Drees’ to pronounce the Invocation for the evening. I walked up to the microphone, barely taller than the MC and former head Cheerleader to an immediate call from the crowd to “Stand Up!” It is great to be humbled before all your friends. I loved it!
As I turned to the more serious Invocation I referred to Ecclesiastes 11:9 as the Scriptures tell us to be happy in the days of our youth and relish those days as we follow the ways of our heart. The night was to be a night of being happy, remembering and relishing those days. I also touched on the importance of relationships. Our relationship with Jesus determines our eternal destiny. I received several positive comments on my remarks. I was shyer in High School. Many would be surprised that I could stand and speak in front of a few, especially Mrs. Brewer, my former speech teacher. I also received much good natured ribbing about being 6’4”. On my best day, I am 5’7”. Several girls my height, or taller, had photos taken as they stooped to make me look tall. The best moment was Larry Swartz, one of the real athletes who is a legitimate 6’6”, walking over for a photo. I was a little taller than his belt. It was great!
It was a wonderful night as it was meant to be. I didn’t share the rest of the verse that evening as the evening was intended to be a totally fun evening. Ecclesiastes also tells us there is a time for everything. That evening when the band got too loud for me to visit Cathy and I danced. A friend said, “Is a Baptist preacher going to dance?” I reminded him of Ecclesiastes 3:4 (“...a time to dance.”). Now it’s time to complete the invocation & verse 9 as it tells us to enjoy our youth following the desires of our heart, “But know also that not just anything goes; You have to answer to God for every last bit of it.”
In school there comes a day of accounting for action, graduation. If one does not do the proper work and does not make the grade one does not graduate. I almost learned those lessons the hard way. I must confess a love to have fun & joke than a love to study in those days. I finished near the bottom of the class of 70. In college those finishing with lower grades than me in 1974 graduated in 1975. God got my attention when He called me to seminary. I was a much better student gaining my Master’s and Doctorate degrees.
Here is the point. In all pursuits, there will come a day of accounting, graduation, judgment. Life is no different. As I visited my hometown and had fun with friends of my past I also visited a future site, my cemetery plot. That may sound morbid but I live each day reminding myself that I am headed toward a final graduation in this life where I will have to answer for how I have lived. Romans 8:1 tells me there is “now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus! A life lived by faith in Christ is proper preparation for that graduation. He is the only way to prepare for the final exam! That is a fact not a shaky memory. Trust me, I AM a doctor and that is on my diploma not just in my memory.
