I sat across the table from him last Tuesday morning. It has been our habit for more years than I care to count, of meeting to catch up and see where we are spiritually, mentally, and yes......even at this age, physically. Sometimes the physical part takes up a lot of our conversation. I digress.
But this past Tuesday was different. I just didn't see a man across the table. I saw a friend, and a relationship that stretches back over 52 years. I saw two 17 year old boys sitting in Hazel Hicks homeroom, senior year in high school.
I saw us getting together at his house one Sunday afternoon to see what common things might bring us together. Of course the obvious was music. Although our tastes parted ways at certain points, we did have a love for the music of Simon and Garfunkel.
Here is the strange part about our relationship.
We are so different.
He is everything smooth, with a splash of culture.
I am sawdust and dirt roads.
He is artistic and can see colors and shapes that meld together into beautiful pictures and works.
Me? I couldn't draw a straight line if you gave me a pencil and ruler to use.
In fact, in high school we were often referred to as "The Odd Couple" taking a nod from the t.v. show.....Oscar the slob and Felix the meticulous one. I'll give you 3 guesses to which one I was........first two don't count.
After we met on Tuesday, I went home and drug out my Simon and Garfunkel cd's. The first one Jim ever introduced me to was "BOOKENDS", so I drug it out.
I remember in the early days, the song "Old Friends" kind of became one that we both gave a nod to when it came to our relationship.
"Old friends....Old friends....sat on their park bench like bookends."
As the years passed, we often referred to this song with fondness, that somehow our friendship would weather whatever came our way.
But Tuesday, the song took on a different meaning with a line that hit home the reality of time and life.
"Can you imagine us years from today.......sharing a park bench quietly. How terribly strange to be 70."
We are currently at this point in our friendship.
I am 17 months away from 70, and we are still friends. I don't know if there is a word that could ever mean more than friends, but I would love to create one.
God has tied us together ever since that first day in home room, senior year of High School.
For 52 years Bynum has always followed Bentley, just as the seating arrangement was that day. In most ways, God has had me following Jim for all these years. Jim has been an encouragement to me, a mentor in a lot of ways. He introduced me to the teachings of Wimber. He gave me a place where God told me to start a home group. He ordained me at the proper time, releasing me to be who God had created me to be.
I don't know what the future holds....
Or even how much of a future we have...
But I know this...
Jim Bentley is,and forever will be my friend.
God on you....
mbb
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