He came through the door of the conference facility and wandered in a question-mark pattern up to me. As he drew closer, I’m guessing that the flash of recognition struck him about the same time it did me.
“I know you,” I said.
“Yes, you do,” he said.
And thus began a short reminiscence that would review the past 30 years or so — not only of our lives but of all of our high school classmates.
Since I seemed to be a little more plugged into reunion information, he eventually asked me, “So did anyone in our class do anything extraordinary?”
I struggled at first. Probably the most famous of our friends is a university professor and author who has also touched thousands of lives through his leadership of a non-profit association of private schools. Then there’s the one who went to work with an international company and has done very well. And the middle school principal. And the teachers. And the truck driver. And the barber. And the housewife. And those who have struggled with illness. And those who have lost that physical struggle. And those who have weathered divorce and estrangement from family. And those who experience joy in every day. And those who are bent over with sadness and depression and loss.
All of those classmates didn’t come up in that conversation. But I began to think about them during the long drive home that Saturday night.
By Sunday morning, I was feeling a bit blue. When Preacher Mike pulled us to scripture, my spirit was lifted as he began to talk about the honored placed that each of us holds in the body.
Being a part of the body is extraordinary. To see the way that my high school classmates have dealt with daily life is an extraordinary journey in itself. To see children born or adopted and raised. To see sickness and death taken on headfirst. To see people who have been beaten down by life stand and laugh at the Tormentor. To see individuals who truly believe in God and trust in Him.
This is to live extraordinarily.
And so, after further thought, my answer is, “They have all lived extraordinary lives.”