The Good Old Days

“They were now on the way up to Jerusalem, and Jesus walked ahead of them. The disciples were filled with awe, and the people were following behind were overwhelmed with fear.” (Mark 10:32 NIV)

We’ve spent the long weekend with friends. We log hours gathered around the table: laughing, eating, sharing, playing Farkle. We’ve been friends for a decade now, ten years have slipped through our fingers. Our kids have grown from preschoolers to teenagers and from teenagers to young adults. Our faith has grown, too. Ten trips around the sun sees a lot of trial and loss. We share freely and deeply, as only long-time friends can.

My husband is the quietest among us, but when he shares, we all pay attention. It’s either incredibly witty or pretty profound. He speaks his truth:

“I’ve always loved Andy’s line from the very last episode of the Office;
“I wish there were a way to know you were in the good old days
before you actually left them.””

I see it on his face, my husband is in awe of the life we’ve lived, the friendships we’ve had and the places we’ve walked. He and I are old enough to know that tomorrow’s never promised. The world turns quickly and overnight it could all be different. The eight of us soak in his thought a moment, recognizing it as holy: we drink deeply from the cup of friendship on this random Labor Day weekend.

We take friendships for granted in our twenties and thirties, but as we age, we realize the rare gift of knowing and being known. I’m so grateful for the people the Lord has brought into the pages my story. I’m even beginning to be glad that this is my story.

Back to our disciples. Ten chapters into the book of Mark and they are walking along the road, in awe of their proximity to Jesus presence, firsthand observers of His ministry. Did they recognize that they were in the good old days? Did they know that the story was about to turn the page and their face time with their Savior was about dry up entirely? By the very next chapter they’d be in Jerusalem and their last week of ministry together. Wouldn’t they spend the rest of their lives longing to go back to these three years on the road with Jesus?

Andy Bernard reminds us that we rarely recognize today as the good old day that we’ll long to return to. Scripture says it more eloquently, and of course the childhood Sunday School song still rings in my middle-aged ears:

“This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24 NLT)

Life (on earth) is short but God is good. We live these seventy or eighty years best when we seize every opportunity for relationship as it’s set before us, when we see people as souls with intrinsic value, variety and purpose. I’m going to end our time together with an unlikely quote from America’s favorite perpetual teenager.

Lord, thank You for friendships that stand the test of time but thank You also for today and all the opportunities therein. You build beautiful stories, if we’ll only stop and pay attention, if we’ll value the souls in front of us right now. Help us treat today as if it is a good old day: enjoying, treasuring, recognizing it as holy. Amen.

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