Reflections on My Friend Bruce

 A few weeks ago my friend, Bruce Harrison, went to be in the Presence of our Lord Jesus. His memorial service is going to be Saturday, January 14 in Winston - Salem. Sadly, Vickie and I cannot make the drive. I have written the following to be read during the service. 

As I reflect on what I've written, I'm reminded that just as the Book of Acts continues to be written, so does Hebrews Chapter 11. I'm also aware that I have been exceedingly blessed to know some remarkable people in my life, men and women who have been Christ to me, who have grown into Christ's Presence over the years. 

When our Father gives us friends to help us climb beyond base camp, do we really appreciate the treasures we've been given?

If it were not for my friends, I would still be in the dumpster - decaying, putrefying, and hopeless. The older I get, the more aware of this I am. 

Let me begin by quoting something I wrote to a friend a day or two after Bruce went to be in the Presence of Jesus:

 “It occurred to me yesterday that when I had coffee or a meal with Bruce in a place that he frequented, that he knew the people who worked in the establishments. He knew more than their names, he knew their families, their highs and lows, their challenges…he paid attention to them. Bruce was a former executive with a national telecommunications firm, had been with the firm for many years and knew what it was to function and communicate in the atmosphere of high leadership and management – but he washed the feet of those around him, no matter their station in life. [Certainly the “bread ministry” that he maintained in Winston – Salem was an expression of this, there was no one who Bruce Harrison considered untouchable or unlovable.]”

My friend Brucie was anchored in an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ and with Carolyn, and he loved and cared about people, he loved his family and his friends – with a love that far exceeded words by manifesting itself in myriad tangible ways.

Vickie and I have been blessed to not only know Bruce and Carolyn as friends, but we also had the blessing of working with Bruce in a fast-paced and pressurized environment. You can tell a lot about people who you work with, and Bruce was the same at work as he was when we gathered with the saints for worship and sharing God’s Word; he was the same at work as he was if we were having a nice dinner together.

Yes, yes, Bruce knew how to have fun, and…contrary to popular opinion, including my wife Vickie’s, Brucie could get me in trouble – in fact more than once he got both Mel and me in trouble…but as my Daddy would say, “It was all in fun.”

The following is something I wrote to Chris and Leah:

“While in one sense your Dad appeared to be easygoing, beneath the gentle exterior was granite when it came to Jesus Christ, his family and friends, and to faithfulness and service to those around him. He would not compromise the Gospel for man – centered religion or philosophy, nor would he consider anything that would be other than the truth, he was not a man to take the easy way out, nor was he looking for a quick fix. And may I say, that even when your Dad was disappointed in others, that I never heard a mean-spirited word come out of his mouth.

“When I think of the physical infirmities that your Dad dealt with, his patience with others and his thankful outlook on life is even more remarkable. But of course he would be the first to say that this all came from Jesus Christ; he lived and breathed Jesus. What better example of a man (and a marriage!) giving himself to Jesus Christ and others than my friend Bruce Harrison.”

When I ponder my friend Bruce, I am reminded of what missionary Jim Elliot wrote, “He is no fool, who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.”

Bruce held onto people in love, while he learned to let go of things. He took others seriously, but not so much himself. Bruce knew that “the good life” is not to be found in material possessions – as much as we might enjoy them in the moment – but rather is to be found is knowing the God who loves us with all that He is and in loving and serving others.

My friend Bruce exemplified these words from 1 Corinthians Chapter 13:

“Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

When people disappointed Bruce, they ususaaly did not know it; and when others hurt Brucie, they usually didn’t know it.

With all of his heart, Bruce wanted his family and friends to know Jesus Christ.

Bruce loved Carolyn as Christ loves the Church, and he deeply loved both his immediate and extended family.

Yes, Bruce could be stubborn - no doubt about it; the best I can say about that is that the Bible teaches us that we have this treasure in jars of clay so that the beauty of Christ can be seen in us and through us – and for sure Bruce’s life pointed to Jesus Christ.

Bruce was my friend with whom I shared life, and with whom I could mutually work out thoughts and work through Biblical passages and pray. We were climbing together, tethered together, roped together – and even if we went a few weeks without speaking (which was rare), we could sense the tug of the rope in our days and nights. Sometimes he was strong for me, sometimes I was strong for him…all in Christ. Bruce was just enough older than me to be older for me…and then I was just enough younger than him to be younger for him.

I still feel the tug of our rope of friendship, the difference is that Bruce is beyond the clouds now.

It has been said that being a male is a matter of birth, and that being a man is a matter of choice – Bruce Harrison was a man, a man of courage in a world where we see little courage, a man of faithfulness in a faithless world.

A few weeks before Bruce left us I shared the chorus of a song I was working on with him, he loved it, he really loved it. I thought I was writing the song for me, as my testimony, but maybe I was writing it for him…what do you think? Here are the words:

“I’m one day closer to heaven, closer to seeing His Face.

One mile closer to the finish line, closer to His warm embrace.

My heart is beating for Jesus, forever to live with Him.

I’m one mile closer to the finish line, closer to His warm embrace.

One mile closer to the finish line, closer to His warm embrace.”

Bruce has crossed that finish line.

Will we cross it too, to be with Bruce, to be with Jesus?

What I have written is just the tip of the iceberg, the reality of what Bruce means to me is deep within my soul. I am a better man for knowing him and I hope that I will always be a good steward of what he poured into my life.