--- id: 20150601_reunion title: BLOG - Reunion category: Biblical Life Counsel predicted_narrative_arc: reconnection-as-wise-investment sentiment: Warm emotions: - Grateful - Reflective - Encouraging keypoints: - Old friendships are hard to rekindle unless we make the effort beyond convenience - Tech contact is not a full substitute for face-to-face encounter - Dean recounts Florida family visits, a fiftieth college reunion, and fishing with brothers - Shared joy and shared tragedy both surface when long-separated friends reunite - Legacy of love outlasts money, houses, and cars — invest in reunions summary: > Dean Rush argues that renewing old relationships takes deliberate effort tech cannot replace. He recounts a summer of reunions — Florida family, a fiftieth college gathering, and fishing with brothers — and concludes that face-to-face investment pays dividends money and possessions never will. Take time to love family and friends. tags: - blog - policy - reunion - friendship - family - legacy - presence - biblical-wisdom - dean-rush sycophancy: 0 truth_score: 8 entropy: 3 sample: false consent: owner_approved agent: blog created: '2015-06-01' updated: '2026-09-09T00:00:00Z' vault_stage: 07_CODEX headwaters: BLOG prefix: BLOG enrich_status: ok enrich_blockers: [] enrich_method: manual pipeline_filename: BLOG_2015-06-01_reunion.md source_kind: blog_article proposed_topic: Wisdom lane: Wisdom voice: desk active_voice: desk voices: - desk routing_source: carbon corpus_topic: Wisdom content_status: active date: '2015-06-01' share_url: https://deanrush.net/blog/reunion source_url: https://deanrush.net/blog/reunion site_category: Policy archive_month: 2015-06 description: > Dean urges costly face-to-face reunions with family and old friends, arguing that love's legacy outlasts money and that tech cannot replace personal encounter. --- # Reunion **Author:** Dean Rush **Original post:** [deanrush.net/blog/reunion](https://deanrush.net/blog/reunion) **Archive month:** June 2015 · **Site category:** Policy > Voice note: Everything under **Dean's article** is Dean's original prose (lightly cleaned of HTML/image artifacts only). Sections marked **Biblical foundations**, **Scholar sidebar**, **Takeaways**, and **First-time learner** are enrichment for Asker / first readers — not Dean speaking. --- ## Biblical foundations (preface) Dean pushes past convenience and screen-mediated contact toward costly face-to-face reunion — family, college friends, brothers — because love's legacy outlasts possessions. He does not lead with a single proof text; the enrichment below supplies the biblical frame that supports *his* claims about presence, effort, and lasting investment. | Dean's claim | Scriptural undercarriage | | --- | --- | | Old relationships need deliberate renewal | Do not neglect meeting together (Hebrews 10:24–25); as iron sharpens iron (Proverbs 27:17) | | Presence beats remote substitutes alone | Face to face is better than unfinished joy at a distance (cf. 2 John 12; 3 John 13–14) | | Shared life includes joy and tragic loss | Weep with those who weep; rejoice with those who rejoice (Romans 12:15) | | Love's legacy outlasts wealth | Treasure in heaven, not moth-eaten riches (Matthew 6:19–21); life does not consist in possessions (Luke 12:15) | | Investing time in people is wise stewardship | Make the best use of time (Ephesians 5:15–16); love one another earnestly (1 Peter 4:8) | --- ## Dean's article ![Reunion image from Dean's original post](https://deanrush.net/Portals/0/reunion-1002241_640%20(1)_1.jpg) It is unusual to overtly seek to renew really old relationship. Those old friendships usually are difficult to rekindle unless they are convenient to your home or destination. Reasons for reunions are many but today, may be simply to really get to renew relationships that mean a lot to us. There is also the fact that we have all lost some important aspects of important people from our past due to many reasons. We overlook many opportunities due laziness, a perception that seeking renewal is "just too much trouble", or simply using the telephone, Facebook, Twitter, etc. to replace face to face aspect of maintaining a relationships. Technical apps allow us to speak with friends over the internet but it is not the same as face to face conversation. Long standing relationships still require the step of personal encounter to truly enjoy knowing friends. Fortunately, my bride has humored me and allowed me to spend much of the summer catching upon the lives of good friends from the past and also with relatives. > **Scholar sidebar — Screens help; presence heals** > John's letters prefer face-to-face completion of joy over unfinished paper (2 John 12; 3 John 13–14). Hebrews 10:24–25 warns against neglecting assembly. Dean is not anti-technology; he refuses to let apps become a full substitute for personal encounter. Laziness and "too much trouble" are spiritual diagnoses as much as scheduling ones (Ephesians 5:15–16). First there was a trip to Florida to see my brother, his family, and a neighbor from the farm next door to where we grew up. We then traveled to Indiana for my fiftieth college reunion (That figure must be wrong. I can't be that old?). We saw people we haven't seen in more years than I care to admit. What a great blessing to find out that we have all had lives highlighted by good times, great times, and, yes, some very tragic losses of loved ones. Following that great weekend, I went fishing with two of my brothers and son in law in Lake Erie. We stayed the night in a double wide, played cards, ate at a greasy spoon, and then got up at 4 in the morning to fish at 6AM. Lots of effort to go catch some fish but, in the end, it was worth every minute because we talked, laughed, and reminisced about life. The life we were blessed to share growing up. Yes, reunions take extra effort and even some unexpected expense but they are a great investment. It doesn't matter how much time has passed since you have last seen a friend. It only matters that you get to see people you love and appreciate. When we die, money means nothing nor do the size of our home or car. The legacy of love we leave with the people we love will continue to grow. Investment in reunions with people you care about pay great dividends in life. Take time to love your family and friends. In Him Dean > **Scholar sidebar — Greasy spoons and lasting treasure** > Romans 12:15 fits Dean's reunion table: shared blessing and shared tragedy both surface when long-separated people meet again. Matthew 6:19–21 and Luke 12:15 undercut the rival ledger — house, car, money — that death empties. The early fishing trip, cards, and greasy spoon are not trivial; they are the ordinary means by which love's legacy compounds (1 Peter 4:8). --- ## Takeaways 1. **Rekindling old ties takes initiative.** Convenience alone rarely restores what time has thinned. 2. **Tech is incomplete presence.** Phone and social apps help but do not replace face-to-face knowing. 3. **Effort and expense can be wise.** Florida, Indiana, and Lake Erie cost time and money — and paid relational dividends. 4. **Reunions hold joy and grief together.** Long lives include great times and tragic losses; friends share both. 5. **Love outlasts assets.** Money, home, and car mean nothing at death; the legacy of love keeps growing. --- ## First-time learner ### What is Dean saying in one sentence? Spend the effort to see family and old friends face to face — that investment outlasts money and cannot be fully replaced by screens. ### Why tell the fishing and college stories? Because they prove the thesis in ordinary detail: inconvenience (4 a.m., greasy spoon, travel) was worth it for talk, laughter, and shared history. ### Key verses to read with this post - **Hebrews 10:24–25** — Do not neglect meeting together. - **2 John 12; 3 John 13–14** — Prefer face-to-face joy. - **Romans 12:15** — Rejoice and weep with others. - **Matthew 6:19–21** — Treasure in heaven. - **Luke 12:15** — Life is not possessions. - **Ephesians 5:15–16** — Make the best use of time. - **1 Peter 4:8** — Love one another earnestly. ### A simple practice This season: (1) pick one person you have not seen face to face in years, (2) schedule a visit or shared meal (not only a text), (3) pray Ephesians 5:16 over the calendar cost. ### How this feeds Ask Dean Seed material for questions such as: *What does Dean say about reunions? Why does face-to-face matter?* Answers should keep Dean's stories primary and use scholar notes only as biblical scaffolding.