Rebuilding Bridges

The only thing better than being blessed with the chance to rebuild bridges is to have the wisdom not to burn them in the first place. But alas, we don't always have that foresight. Take a recent experience of mine.

On Friday, I finally had an opportunity to begin to rebuild a friendship that I had broken nearly ten years ago. In high school, Brice and I were practically inseparable. He was truly my best friend. We could always sit down and shoot the breeze maybe get into some heated arguments but we were always friends. He was always there for me, if I needed to chat about something, ask a question or talk about God he would listen, argue and never judge. I loved that, and it was something that has been missing in my life as of late (like the last ten years).

Our relationship as friends started hitting the rocks as he was getting replaced by Jaime. While I can't say that I regret that part of it, I do wish I had kept both relationships going at the same time. But I didn't, we went our separate ways and lost contact with each other. I became a part of a tightly knit ingrown community which frowned on any real relationships with outsiders, and let many of those old relationships die on the vine.

Having come out of that Church just over a year ago, I've been searching most for a relationship with a man where I could be open, have someone to talk to and not be afraid of what was said. I kept thinking back through my life; was there anyone that I had known like that? I kept thinking about Brice. Finally, I got up the gumption to get back into contact and after much scheduling problems we got our acts together (which is a big accomplishment in itself--just ask our wives) and got together for lunch...for a two hour lunch.

It was great, refreshing, everything I remembered our old conversations being like although admittedly more mature (so who's complaining?). I hope we'll keep in contact now, and see each other much more often (once every 10 years isn't too hard to beat is it?). Anyway I wanted to share. A lesson learned the hard way: Beware of smoldering bridges; when they burn down, they might be too costly to rebuild.

created and © Rob Elliott