In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit. ~Albert Schweitzer
After the highly inspirational night I had yesterday, I am extremely grateful for fellowship.
The plans we had for last night, started out as a movie night. I invited a few friends over, went to Hollywood video, rented a few movies, laid out what grew quickly into a buffet of snacks, and anticipated their arrival. Before it was all over with, we decided not to even watch the movies, we were all having too good a time just sitting around talking, and that is what we did until well after one in the morning. Honestly, I could have gone all night if they had chosen to do so as well, the kind of discussions we were having last night is what I live for.
Growing up, I was probably the most exhausted student in school, rather I was the most exhausted student who didn’t have an after school job, in my school. The reason is, because my dad and I would talk for hours about religion, politics, and philosophy. I would plan on going to bed at eleven, and I would stop by his room to say good night and find him as always sitting up reading. It would usually start with me asking a question, and then there we would go, and the next thing I know it is almost four in the morning, and I had to be up at seven for school. The same thing usually happened with me and my brother-in-law when I would visit him and my sister.
I did this most of my life. When we attended Church, after the Sunday night service, afterwards just about everyone would meet at the local pizza place, and while all of my friends were playing Pac-Man, and my little brother ran around with his friends, I would be sitting at the table listening to my dad and his friends talk, and every now and then I would get a little froggy and jump into the conversation.
I still do this. About five nights a week, I phone my dad, and we usually end up talking two hours or more, and once again it is all about philosophy, religion, and politics. We always called it Church. There is a scripture in the bible that say, “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.–Matt. 18:20.” However, I have come to realize, that one thing I have missed from “Church,” is fellowship.
Fellowship is to put it simply, companionship, a group of people with like minded interests, and something that I have learned is important. You need fellowship for a number of reasons. Fellowship helps you grow, it helps to inspire you, and if you have the right kind of fellowship, it challenges you. It doesn’t have to be just about spirituality, the Wednesday Poker Discussion group is a fellowship, and since I don’t play poker anymore, something I don’t participate in. That is not to say that I don’t attend events with friends, but therein lies the problem. That is mainly what I do, is I attend events with them, we all sit together in a theater, looking to someone on a stage to provide us with entertainment, it is a social event, without the socializing. Last night was different, all we did was talk, for hours, and it was an amazing night. There were no distractions, it was up to us to actually interact with each other, it wasn’t forced, there was no poker chatter, no board games, the only thing that drove the conversation was the giving and taking of thoughts and ideas.
I am truly blessed to be surrounded by such a great group of people, who even if they don’t share the same beliefs I have, still support me, because they are happy that I am happy. For that I am grateful, that they provide me with the fellowship I need, and I am grateful that they have allowed me into their life to do the same for them.
