When my cell phone rang, I hesitated to answer it because I didn’t recognize the number that flashed on the screen. But I was glad I did. At the end of the line was Ron (let me call him that), one of my friends in elementary school. I haven’t seen or talked to him for probably half a century! We spent the next hour catching up and sharing our lives.
The forced quarantine has inspired people to re-connect with long lost friends, relatives, and classmates. Our high school batch has had three Zoom “reunion” meetings already during the past couple of months. What memories came flooding in as I looked at the aged faces of my former classmates in the mid-1970s. I was a twelve-year-old boy from the province when I entered my school located in Quezon City. The next four years were a kaleidoscope of experiences as I went through that stage called adolescence. Through the disembodied faces of my former classmates in Zoom, I relieved those years that helped shaped who I am today.
As I reflect on the above, I realized how good God is in providing us with scores of people who share our life’s journey. Our loved ones, friends, and classmates add color to our lives in ways hard to imagine. They have encouraged us when we were down. They have challenged us to do better when we could have settled for less. Of course, some people did harm us. But thankfully, God has overruled their malevolent intention for our good.
Yes, no man or woman is an island. God has designed us as social beings, longing to connect to our fellow humans. So go ahead, join those virtual reunions and family gatherings.
Praise God for the people He has surrounded us with over the years.
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