Saturday night I attended my 20 year high school reunion. In the days leading up to the big event, I couldn't help falling victim to the "Reunion Syndrome." The Reunion Syndrome is a condition characterized by increased self-reflection about the following: 1. Do I make enough money? 2. Is my house big enough? 3. Is my car adequately luxurious? 4. Does my job afford me position and influence? 5. Are my kids destined for greatness? The Reunion Syndrome is commonly reffered to as "Jonesing for the Joneses."
As the Reunion Syndrome took affect, I was surprised and saddened by my degree of Jonesing for the Joneses. I felt my self-worth rise and fall as I reflected on those standards our society holds so dear - physical beauty, wealth, material possessions, and power. Eventually a hidden apetite was revealed. I hungered to be great. I hungered to be extraordinary. A shadow of guilt and regret enveloped me as I remembered the words of Mother Teresa, “We cannot do great things on this Earth, only small things with great love.”
At the reunion, I felt awkward. My attempts at small talk were clumsy, gangly, and uncoordinated like I was in the throws of social puberty. I did want to know were people lived, if they had a family, and where they worked. But more than this I wanted to know how they had experienced the presence of God in their lives. Had they seen God in the birth of a child, an unforeseen tragedy, or an undeserved blessing? Had they seen God in the mundane and the monotonous or had they too been Jonesing for the Joneses? Had they too been hungering to be extraordinary?
I wish I could say I were no longer infected with the "Reunion Syndrome." I wish I could say that my life were filled with small things done with great love. Maybe just maybe by the next reunion I'll be living a life more ordinary.
