Life Is Precious, including Lasting Friendships—A High School Reunion Reflection

                This past weekend I attended the Fiftieth Reunion of the 1976 graduating class of Klamath Union High School (Go Mighty Pelicans). Because we graduated in 1976, we were the bicentennial class, which has its own dimensions. It was good to see old friends, and by that, I mean friends from long ago; plus, fifty years means we’re getting older. As you might expect, we did a lot of reminiscing. This included a gathering of classmates from my elementary school, Roosevelt Elementary School (Rough Riders). As we did twenty years ago, a group of us went to Roosevelt to have our picture taken.

                On Saturday morning, I led a memorial service to remember the 55 to 57 members of our class of about 500, several of whom were personal friends from elementary school days. Five of my classmates read the names of our classmates who had died, some of whom had died quite recently. I sense that everyone on the list was remembered fondly by at least one of those of us who gathered for the memorial. Due to our age, many, if not most, of us have lost our parents to death. For some it has been a spouse or siblings, and perhaps even children. So, gathering in that moment was moving. I also chose Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 for one of my classmates to read. That passage reminds us that death is part of our journey in life, so there are times to laugh (and we did a lot of laughing during the reunion) and a time to weep (and we did a bit of that as well). I concluded the brief service by offering a prayer and a bagpipe rendition of Amazing Grace from my phone.  After the names had been read, I offered a prayer followed by a bagpipe rendition of Amazing Grace, which I played on my phone.

                I titled this reflection “Life Is Precious,” because gatherings like this serve as a reminder that life is precious, as are friendships. I think some of us went to the reunion with a bit of trepidation, and yet I believe that at least for most of us there was a sense of joy in reconnecting with people we may have known in high school, though not all that well; but in this moment we found something in common to celebrate. Then, of course, some people played important parts in our lives. There was joy in those reconnections as well.

Now, regarding the memorial, while, as a Christian pastor who believes in the resurrection of the dead, theologically I affirm the possibility of an afterlife, even leaning into a form of universalism, I don’t fear death. Nevertheless, as Paul reminds us, death is an enemy that removes loved ones from our lives. As I often say, funerals are not really for the person who died. They are important for the living to gather in support of one another. In a sense, that is what a fiftieth reunion does. It brings us together to support each other as we continue the journey, knowing that some of our classmates no longer walk with us in life. So, even as we celebrated precious friendships planted decades in the past, we grieved the loss of our friends who have died, knowing that the next time we gather (and it appears the consensus is gathering in five years rather than ten) even more of our classmates will be named among those who have died.   

                I am concluding this reflection on the preciousness of life and friendship with the prayer I offered at the memorial. It is a modified version of a prayer that I often use in memorial services. May it serve to bless you if you have experienced losses of friends and family:

O God, Giver of life, and Conqueror of death, we open our hearts to you just as we are. We celebrate your gift of life freely given but are grieved by a sense of loss in the face of the deaths of our classmates. The love which binds us to one another leaves us aching as ties are broken. Accept our tears as emblems of devotion and transform them into waters of life to nourish us in the days ahead.

                We know that your love is everlasting. Nothing can separate any of us from your abiding care. With you is eternal life.

                We thank you for your gift of the lives of each of our classmates whom we have named, and all others who have died and whom we hold dear, into the lives of those who have known and loved them. With confidence, we now entrust them into your unfailing love and overflowing goodness.

                And reassured of your abiding presence, help us to knit more firmly the ties that bind us one to another, until at last we are united eternally with you now and forever. Amen