Let’s hear it for family reunions

Following our daughter’s wedding, my wife and I hosted a family reunion. Because Wendy’s siblings and their mates had come from Florida, Virginia and California, we wanted to spend additional time with them.

The last time we were together was three years ago to celebrate my in-laws’ 90th birthdays and 70th wedding anniversary.

Although I attended reunions of extended family members when I was a kid, my fascination with family reunions has grown since I’ve had children of my own.

In the summer of 2001, my wife’s parents gathered the children, spouses and grandchildren to celebrate their 50th anniversary. They chose Seaside, Oregon because it was where Hugh and Norma had honeymooned. The week we spent together was wonderful.

A reporter from the local newspaper did a feature article on “the honeymooners” who had returned to celebrate their union 50 years later.

In addition to sharing memories of years past, we made new memories doing fun things. It was such a meaningful time we decided to try to have a reunion every five years or so.

Our plan has been successful, but the occasion for getting together has not always been happy. There have been funerals as well as weddings. In addition, anniversaries and milestone birthdays have served to bring us together.

In happy times or times of grief, there is joy and strength is found while sharing life with those with whom you have a shared history.

One of my favorite axioms is “A shared joy is a doubled joy and a shared sorrow is half a sorrow.”

From my perspective as a man of the cloth, family reunions are a preview of coming attractions. They point to what awaits us on the other side. My understanding of Heaven is more than simply escaping the heartaches and hard times of this world.

From what I read in the Bible, Heaven will also include a wonderful reunion with loved ones who have entered into the presence of the Lord ahead of us. Often while conducting graveside services at a local cemetery, I will remind the grieving that there is an ultimate family reunion that yet awaits. Such a reminder offers hope in the midst of sorrow.

Although death provides a doorway to that grand reunion to come, our faith entitles us to benefit from family reunions on this side of the sod.

Since retiring from full-time ministry a year ago, my wife and I have been attending a small church where I am not the pastor. As a matter of fact, our daughter’s husband is one of the ministers. Attending that church allows us to support our son-in-law as well as model generational faith for our two granddaughters.

In the process of breaking into a new congregation, we have discovered friendship with other attendees. Every Sunday we look forward to seeing them. And they look forward to seeing us. We have become like extended family members to one another.

As Wendy and I learn of health concerns that cause our new friends fear or high school graduations that cause them joy, we are able to “do life” with them. Shared joys and shared sorrows connect us.

All that to say, going to church on a Sunday morning has become like a weekly family reunion. We enjoy seeing people we care about and we feel loved by them at the same time.

Since COVID there has been a tendency for many to continue “doing church” virtually. We can stay in our sweats and drink coffee with our feet elevated in our recliners as the worship band plays and the pastor preaches.

And while that may be convenient, it is not optimal. The family reunion feel of in-person church attendance is lost when we opt for online attendance.

No wonder the person who wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews chided the first-century Christians to not forsake the practice of regular church attendance. “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encourage one another — and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:25)

• The Rev. Greg Asimakoupoulos is a former Naperville resident who writes about faith and family.