Past, Present, Future...

In these modern times when one no longer needs a reunion to get in touch with those from our formative years, both the blessings and the curses come roaring to the front lines.

When I think back on my college years, it is a chimera of both the happiest times and the worst nightmares of my being. Surrounded by those who were both my dearest friends, but would politically and spiritually be my enemies if they had ever known the real me (which, even then, I didn't like to admit to myself who the real me was...)

As I get reacquainted with those from the ABC (Appalachian Bible College) days, it is glaringly obvious those who furthered their exploration of the world at large and who decided that the bubble they created in those years was just the way to go for the rest of their lives.

Please, dear reader, I do not mean that as unkindly as it sounds. Indeed, we all make "bubbles" of reality, deny those things which call into question the very life and reality we hold so dear and feel is so important so as to keep what anyone else would think is no big deal at bay...

Back in those days, we all thought we knew who we were. At college, you are living independently for the first time usually. No mother to wake you up when you ignore the alarm, no one to cook your meals, do your laundry, drive you to wherever you need to be... Granted, ABC made sure that you learned just enough to get around, but not enough to form a compete world view. Between the rules about music, movies, dating, socializing, eating, drinking, praying, worshiping, studying what to read and when... The microcosm of ABC would be stifling to anyone who wanted to use their neurons for more than just praising a deity...

Sigh...

The other shoe will drop, and I know some of them will cut me off, which is fine in a way, I suppose. After all, if I haven't spoken to them in 12+ years, what is truly the loss? Memories mostly, and the rosy view of remembering them a certain way (or they remembering me a certain way as well...) Much as when you bury a loved one in reality, the proverbial glass slipper will create a wall that most likely cannot be breached by certain persons...

Sure, some of my fellow ABCers have been here (and I in turn have visited and commented on their blogs), and it's been nice catching up and seeing where they are and what they're doing.... But I'm wondering how many of them have conveniently ignored those "About Me"s on the other blogs, ignored the headlines that tell of what goes on in my life, all in the spirit of keeping that bubble intact--even if that bubble would stay intact, just shoving me out of it into the water of their reality...

Is it that they are just picking and choosing their battles? Perhaps--we all do that from time to time. Sometimes there's nothing to be gained by pointing out where two people no longer agree, but sometimes there's the potential for growth on both ends of the spectrum of reality.

I'm hoping for growth--more patience from myself for those who I feel have given up on a love of knowledge, and more open-mindedness and tolerance from them, and a realization that just because they believe a certain way doesn't necessarily mean everyone should live that way...

Have you had a similar experience, dear reader, when a friend from the past brought back a world which collided potentially violently with your own?