HOW BOOK CLUB BUDDIES BECAME BROTHERS

I remember a time in my life when I formed some of the closest friendships in my life. During my college years I remember having a required book club assignment we had to complete for our English 101 class.

I grabbed a bunch of my buddies and we gathered around every Thursday at 3:00pm for a whole semester to read through some books. Quite honestly, I don’t remember what the books were! But they truly changed our lives and built friendships that have lasted until now.

You see, my friends Chris, Pat, Jason, John, and myself would faithfully show up and dive into our books together. None of us were very big readers, but we enjoyed the time together. We began to enjoy the time and not just see it as an assignment.

Through our interests and perspectives, we got to learn more about one another and connect on a deeper level. These men became friends for life. We formed bonds that had us standing beside one another on our wedding days, here for each other in the good times and just as much in the lows. Books were an opportunity for us to explore our own interests and then be able to connect with each other through those interests. It gave us topics to discuss and share our passions with each other.

To this day, these guys and myself have not failed to meet together once a week in our Bible studies with one another. We moved on from English 101 but the core truth is still the same—friends that read together, stay together. I am beyond grateful that we had the opportunity to use literature to create the bonds between us. To create brotherhood.

Walt