Reflections on Athens Trip

This weekend, we joined Randy, Sarah, Brian and Karin down in Athens for a nostalgic tour de force at our beloved alma mater. We walked around campus reminiscing of college, which was interrupted periodically by fits of jealousy over some of the newly constructed amenities students are enjoying nowadays. We ate lunch at the Bagel Street Deli, lounged at the Donkey, and stuffed ourselves at the ole Casa Nueva. The conversation was filled with memories and laughs that had all of us pining for college.

Combining this visit with the book I just finished has left me in a pensive mood. I’ve been reading The Cairo Trilogy, which is a generational novel written by Egyptian author Naguib Mahfouz. It basically follows a Cairo family in the first half of the 20^th century from is heights through its disintegration. It made me so sad to watch these characters go through the glories of life only to end up right where everyone else ends up: on the verge of death. Time passes by so quickly.

There are so many things about college that I miss - things that have now become almost legendary among our friends. But, that time was only a vapor. We’ll blink and before you know it we’ll be 80 (Lord willing). It’s really sad. The only thing that keeps life from being a cruel joke is knowing that God has more for than simply good times. Knowing Him will be only thing we’ll be able to take with us when we die.

I hate to be a downer and all. There’s still so much to look forward to, so I don’t want to get bogged down in reminiscence. But, I wish I had drunk more liberally from those experiences when they were happening. Poignant lesson for the present.