The Embrace of Brothers
by Ken Pierpont
I ran into an old acquaintance in the exhibition hall of a conference one autumn day. Years before, we had allowed a disagreement to come between us and we had not tried to communicate since. It had been nearly ten years since we had talked. Ironically, his name was also Ken. I greeted him without warmth and avoided him. His presence and the memory of our conflict marred my enjoyment of the conference.
The second day of the meeting he caught up with me and asked to speak. I agreed. We found a private place and sat down. He looked directly at me and said, “Ken, there’s something between us and I would like to get it cleared up.”
While I don’t recall our exact words, I’ll never forget his eagerness to reconcile.
“Ken, will you forgive me?” he said. “I don’t want anything to be between us. We are brothers in Christ.” He looked at me sincerely, waiting for my answer.
My heart softened and I had a strong urge within to clear up any offense. “Yes, Ken, I do forgive you. I’m sorry I let anything come between us. Will you forgive me?”
“Yes, gladly.”
We prayed and shook hands warmly, then embraced. The memory of it is sweet to me even today.
Something happened recently that brought this back to my mind. My wife, Lois, and I were on our way to Chicago for a weekend meeting. We arranged to meet our oldest son in west Michigan, where he works. We brought our other three sons along with us to visit with him for the weekend since his fiancé was occupied with a mother-daughter retreat.
We met where we could fuel up on coffee. I saw him standing in front of the place dressed for work. He is strikingly handsome with a strong set of his mother’s physical features. His hair and eyes are dark. I admired the man he has become.
We were all glad to see him. I hugged him to me and he hugged me back. The little boys had been chattering all week about being together. They embraced their brother. Chuk, our second-born son, a man himself now four years younger than Kyle, also embraced him holding him for an extra moment.
Watching my sons together was a sweetness in my soul. I have within me the deepest longing for those boys to love each other. Anything between them would be like a knife in my heart. Maybe the day Ken and I embraced after nearly a decade of coolness made my heavenly Father smile as well.
“How good and pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity” (Psalm 133).
Ken Pierpont has been married to his wife Lois since 1979. They have eight children, four sons and four daughters. Ken has been a pastor for over 20 years.