Tuesday, February 2, 2016

40 years after








It was a cool, clear and chilly November morning when I threw a leg over Gene’s bike, as a buddy seat sitter, and left home for good.  My R90S was sitting at our friend’s BMW shop in Connecticut, and from there it was to Washington, DC to spend a few days with a friend, then off south to Florida, where you guessed it, time spent with another friend.  Then to New Orleans, good time spent with Ronnie, and finally home to my new home in Albuquerque.  I would hear from Geno, in fact he came out the next summer with his cousin on his new Gold Wing, the first year one.  And a few phone calls and letters after that.  Then we lost touch, I wonder how my old riding buddy is?  Retired by now, he was a professional musician, a very good one.
Paul in DC was also a musician, rock and roll.  Incredibly talented, too good for local bands.  Again a few letters, the last one was in 1976 when his sister was in Playboy.  The last time I saw her.  No contact with him, somewhere some band is blessed to have him drumming.  Leaving my old girl friend Paula in Florida, we kept in touch, in fact late she was going to move out, we talked marriage, then Theresa came into my life, and I told Paula don’t come.  Wonder what might have been.....but glad it turned out like it did.   Some years after through mutual friends I heard Ronnie was a doctor, hard to think of him as one, but I bet he is very good.  Somehow I still see him at practice after school talking when we should be practicing throwing the shot put, or putting the shot actually.  40 years ago, and it has passed by quickly.  And it has been years since I have been back to Jersey, or seen anyone from there.  But recently I have a look into its today, and much has changed, or was it me? 
My mother and my sister and her family still live on the same street, and during the blizzard they had last week, I looked up info on it.  Found a web site that has daily neighborhood news, and after 40 years, not only the names have changed.  Maybe some last names from school, but no one I knew.  I might not have been the only one to move out and move on.  I certainly wouldn’t recognize the faces, while some have gotten gray, others may be bald, or even dead.  Meeting up with an old girl friend and her family 5 years ago reminds me how we do change, but how we still stay the same somehow.  Common memories cause us to see ourselves as we were then, despite the changing hairline, or income level.  And when we do meet, so much to say in so little time, and so much catching up to do.  Just like there was always some aunt you saw very little of, and always told you “my but you’ve grown.”  And my first thought was “grown what?”  Maybe I had changed, she was just as I remembered her.  But going back 40 years, if you go back to where you grew up, where your values were instilled, where you first dated and fell in love, how have you changed?  Would anyone notice?  Would anyone even care?  40 years is along time to go back on, especially when you don’t have 40 years to look ahead to.
The past can haunt you, maybe be the best place you ever went, or be a place you never left.  When sharing testimonies we need to remember that.  I grow wearisome of hearing about how bad someone was, seemingly taking precedence over how Jesus has changed them.  Any testimony that starts “I was the worst of sinners...” I rather read from Paul.  Who shared mostly how Jesus Christ had changed his life.  For as much as our testimonies are about us, they are really about how Jesus has changed our lives, they are all about him.  Before I met him, my salvation process, and the day I was saved, and then how he changed my life, and is still changing it.  You see our testimonies don’t stop after salvation, they continue.  One verse in John should remind us, “if all the books written about Jesus were gathered, no library could hold them.”  For he is alive, changing lives still, and will eternally.  Our book is just one of many in the library of God, who keeps notes on us.  Who wants us to share them with others to give his son the glory. 
When reading the New Testament, it truly is all about Jesus, but told by certain authors inspired by the holy spirit to share with us.  To encourage us, to point us to Jesus, for edification, instruction, and encouragement.  Paul’s contemporaries were shocked by his conversion, how many of your old friends would never recognize you today?  Physically or spiritually?  What would your life tell them about Jesus Christ?  I have come a long way from that November morning, would I even recognize me?  40 years after leaving Scotch Plains, I have trouble with the street names, schools and businesses.  Changes occurring everyday, but when seen only briefly seem to change more.  How would you answer an old friend who asks “what have you been up to the last 40 years?”  Remember, he already has his pictures of his grandchildren out on his i-phone to show you, what do you have to show?  How important has Jesus been to you?  Is his picture in your phone?  Does your life and language give him away?  Or are you still seeking for that certain something that those who know Jesus have found?
In my life without Christ I have very little to talk about.  As the central figure in my life, he is the rides, the family, the good and bad times, the moves, the job changes, and the open heart surgery.  It seems the longer I know him, the bigger the library becomes, and with more to share, it definitely takes the spirit to guide me.  Only in Christ can I look back, can enjoy the right now, and look forward to tomorrow.  All at once....so take some time with him today and share those memories.  One afternoon telling Jesus about a ride I took was precious to both of us.  Has t been along time without him?  Do some catching up today, he loves to hear from you, and misses you.  Your pictures on his fridge, some new, some old, some from 40 years ago.  You are on his Facebook page, Twitter, and Instagram.  Long before technology, he was and is.  And his story is just as contemporary as it was 2000 years ago, or 20 minutes.  A story that needs to be told, through us, and our testimonies. 
No need to say my life would shock many who used to know me, it does me too.  But without Jesus I would have very little to tell.  But because of him, my library grows everyday, with no room left on the shelf, but  somehow room in my heart.  Share Jesus today with some old friends, make some new ones, and watch the gospel go forth.  Be more than a picture in a yearbook, or a memory of things that were, be someone in Christ.  Looking back I can still remember how excited I was, how I had no idea of what laid ahead, but knew I had Jesus.  How far back can you look with him?  More importantly, are you looking ahead with him?  40 years after, the thrill has never left.  I can only imagine how excited Paul, Peter, John, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and others were writing their stories about Jesus.  And we get to read them whenever we want.  Start sharing yours today, if he can change Paul, imagine what he can do for you?  Mike Mohn, a Christian?  Let me tell you about how he changed my life....and my how I’ve grown.
love with compassion,
Mike
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