30 years ago...I can hardly believe it!
The Bay High School 30th Year Reunion was this past weekend. Many of the classmates that graduated with me in 1984, (No association with George Orwell's Big Brother Conspiracy to take over the world), met in Cleveland, Ohio to remember and reminisce. Sadly, I was not able to attend - - pastoral weekend duties never cease. But with the wonder of Facebook, you still can sneak-a-peek at the "people of yesteryear" who attended the events. Some of the faces were easy to identify, many were not. The strange thing is that every name I went to school with has been somehow burned into the back of my memory. I remember them all. It really is odd how those obscure & awkward four years of High School life are cemented on your mind - - it is where you first find your identity. For me, as I look back on the people, listen again to the popular songs of the day ("Karma Chameleon by Boy George," yuck!), and remember my playing days on the football and baseball field -- hundreds of strange emotions and memories come flooding in. Oh, I remember how I wanted to date some of those girls but I was too shy and tongue-tied to talk to them. I remember walking hallways alone, feeling left out. And then later as a Senior, being surprised that people actually wanted me to be the captain of the team or campaigning to run for homecoming king. Throughout those four years, I daily wondered, "Who am I?" I must still admit, looking at the people I once knew, brings back the same haunting questions: "Who am I, where do I fit in, and am I liked?" Strange how our culture has decided that those four quick years of your life are supposed to define who you are and will always be. And if we were honest, those four years of High School are the absolute worst years of a person's life to figure those questions out: Peer pressure, hormones and zits have a way of making a person always feel "insignificant and isolated." I know I felt that way... Even now, sitting at my kitchen table as a 47 year old man looking at the Facebook photos; I revert quickly back to those same old feelings: What will people think of me for not attending ("Slacker, Snob, Loner?") If I went would they judge my 30 years of wrinkles and belly fat as a failure on my part? Would they still accept me? Would I be liked? Wow, what a frail person I am, so easily persuaded to let other people, especially the popular group, determine who I am. I still seem to think my identity is formed from four years...four years when I wasn't really me. Over the last 30 years I have come to realize that if I let other people determine "who I am" I will never find satisfaction or security. People are born competitors, whether it is with looks, ability, humor or money & status, we all want to win. And in order to win, we have to push others down. High School is notorious for that. As a simple Christian guy, I have learned something amazing: Jesus loves me! I am made in his image, and he is satisfied with the way he made me. If I could just let that sink in, I wouldn't need to compete. If I would just let that sink in, I wouldn't need to win. If I could just let sink in, I would be proud of my wrinkles and belly fat! Go Rockets!
2 Comments
Darin Niemi
7/28/2014 01:38:36 pm
Does Jesus have belly fat?
Reply
Christopher Weeks
7/29/2014 04:39:42 am
Doubt it!
Reply
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