Tom Keefe

Spirited Communication

Tag: faith

My high school ID

Why I’m skipping my 50th high school reunion

July 21, 2026 / / 0 Comments

As if I need reminders that time marches on, in two weeks I celebrate my 68th birthday—and that weekend, former high school classmates will gather for a 50-year reunion.

My high school classmates and I prepare for the annual 2-mile run. I’m standing to the right of the coach.

I’m not attending the reunion mostly for financial reasons (I’m looking for work and can’t justify the travel expenses). I’ve only made a handful of these high school reunions over the years, and have kept in occasional touch with three of my former classmates.

Since graduating high school and college, my 40-year career in communications has mirrored the good and bad of the U.S. economy: Promotions, bonuses, challenging work; but also downsizing, unemployment and lately, ageism.

By the world’s standards, I’ve led an ordinary life. My wife and I are still married after 37 years (unless I blow it between now and October). We have a son who has built a solid career as an electrician in Nebraska and a daughter who is completing her Master’s Degree and excels in her full-time job at the University of Arizona. We have three grand-dogs who keep us amused and busy.

Some of my former high school classmates retired long ago. I want to keep producing quality work for at least a few more years. By skipping the reunion I won’t feel like I have to explain why retirement isn’t the right option for me today.

The conversations at past reunions I attended centered mostly around retelling stories of the “glory days,” and assessing each other’s successes in work and life. The 68-year-old version of Tom has a much more sober appraisal of what is important in life. I don’t regret my high school past but I have moved on.

It probably does not surprise many that even though Quigley Preparatory Seminary North was a Catholic high school serving as a feeder pipeline for the priesthood, at past reunions none of my former classmates seemed interested in talking about faith and their thoughts on spirituality.

I can see the eyes rolling if I would start a conversation about faith and what happens when we die. I get that most people don’t want to think about dying, but it is a fact of life.

My Christian faith has deepened significantly over the past two decades. In recent years, I’ve paid particular attention to the message Jesus gave to his disciples:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matthew 7:21-23, New International Version).

That is a warning from Jesus to so-called “believers” that lip service and religious activity won’t save anyone. Salvation in the kingdom of heaven requires an authentic, personal relationship with God and obedience to His will.

I grieve that former classmates may be in danger of eternity in hell, and they don’t believe that is a possibility. We all make choices that define our lives and legacy. Life is too short to ignore the important things and spend time on the superficial.

That’s a message I would want to share with my former classmates, but I don’t think it would be received well.

Book Review: The Sacredness of Secular Work

July 23, 2024 /

This was the prevailing view when I was growing up of what eternity in heaven would be like: We would all float around on clouds playing harps.

No wonder why so many weren’t excited about going there. It seemed so boring!

Imagine my excitement when reading Jordan Raynor’s book, “The Sacredness of Secular Work.”

In his book, Raynor clearly connects the purpose and importance of our work today with our purpose and place in heaven for eternity. In doing so, he gave me an “aha” moment just as powerful as the opening line of, “The Purpose Driven Life.” (Remember, “It’s not about you.”?)

Raynor aligns with the Faith and Work Movement, which serves Christians in corporate campuses as one of the largest global networks of workplace fellowships. F&WM serves more than 135 of the largest publicly traded companies through networks in strategic cities, including New York, Chicago, San Francisco. Silicon Valley, Singapore, Manila, and Dublin.

The F&WM site states, “We exist to positively impact companies that impact the world and to help Christians in the marketplace to bring their best self to work. We do this by honoring God at work, encouraging one another, loving our coworkers the way Jesus would if he had our jobs, and praying for companies, leaders, each other, and our cities.”

Raynor stays true to the purpose of the F&WM by combining research, scripture and storytelling to show how our individual and collective work honors God now. But he goes further by laying out a case that:

  • Your work matters for eternity even when you aren’t using it to directly advance the Great Commission (“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”—Matthew 28:19-20 (New International Version)
  • In fact, the Great Commission isn’t the only commission, and it wasn’t the first commission!

After outlining five problems with making the Great Commission our only commission, Raynor summarizes what he terms, “The Abridged Gospel”: “The gospel is the good news that Jesus came to save people from their sins.”

But read how much more expansive and exciting our promised eternal future sounds when Raynor states it as “The Unabridged Gospel”:

God created a perfect world and invited his children to rule over it with him and for him. We sinned, ushering in the curse that broke every part of that perfect creation, ensuring our need for a Savior. Jesus’ resurrection proved emphatically that he is that Savior who saves us by grace through faith. And while we’re not saved by our works, we have been saved for the good works he prepared for us to do all along: partnering with him to cultivate heaven on earth until he returns to finish the job. Then the triune God will finally dwell with us again on a New Earth, where we will rule with him for ever and ever.

That plays out for each of us as uniquely as our gifts, passions and experiences.

I recommend, “The Sacredness of Secular Work.” By the way, its subtitle is, “4 Ways Your Job Matters for Eternity (Even When You’re Not Sharing the Gospel).” The book renewed my desire to honor God daily in the work put before me—and I hope you also find it meaningful and motivational.

“The Sacredness of Secular Work,” by Jordan Raynor. (c) 2024. Published by WaterBrook.

I’m so glad that God is not a genie in a bottle!

May 7, 2024 /

Wishful Thinking

Who hasn’t read or heard the story of Aladdin and the magic genie? Rubbing an old lamp released the genie who granted Aladdin three wishes. In the 1992 Disney animated movie version, the genie explained to Aladdin the three provisos:

  •  Genie can’t kill anyone.
  •  Genie can’t make people fall in love. 
  • Genie can’t bring anyone back from the dead

A Google search included this related answer regarding the general “rules” for all wishful thinking:

  • You cannot receive more wishes than you were originally allotted. Some genies, or leprechauns or magic spirits give one wish, or two, even if the standard is three.
  • No creating or ending life .
  • You cannot effect free will.

In my younger years, I daydreamed about what I would wish for if I had been given the chance. Wishing got a little more complicated when I reached my teenaged years and made some bad choices.

I didn’t have a genie but I did have an incorrect view of God. Anyone else ever make a “foxhole prayer”? “Oh God, if you get me out of this I will NEVER/ALWAYS…”

I knew I couldn’t rub a lamp and make God give me what I thought I needed. But I thought I could convince God to do my bidding. Surprisingly, sometimes circumstances did work out the way I wished. At those times did I then remember my vow to “NEVER/ALWAYS…”? No.

When I was 23 years old, I stood next to a hospital bed where my sister, Annette, lay dying of cancer. I and a lot of people had prayed and prayed that her cancer would be cured. But it got progressively worse.

I thought about the TV preachers who said crazy things like, “In the name of Jesus, evil spirits come OUT!” They seemed to fix the people who then fainted from relief or terror. “Maybe Jesus (God) would fix Annette,” I thought.

Feeling self-conscious because my faith was very weak, I held Annette’s hand as she lay sleeping. “Jesus, please make the cancer disappear,” I said. But I didn’t feel anything mystical, nothing seemed different. And a few days later, Annette died.

Something changed in me some years later as I prepared to get married. I connected with the pastor who led Kim and I in premarital counseling. Not much later I joined that church and began a journey to better understand and serve God.

Worshipful Knowing

Today, I don’t try to manipulate God’s will and purposes for me. I’ve grown that much at least! I usually pray to be shown His will for me and to direct my actions and words toward Him.

Rather than the pain and frustration that I used to feel when trying to control people, places and God, I relax in most stressful situations because I commit to trusting God and accepting what comes.

The peace I feel in tough situations is worth far more than whatever I thought I needed in the past to achieve happiness.

God is real, alive and active in and through me. No genie could ever come close to matching what I have today.

© 2026 Tom Keefe

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