Scripture
A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need.
~Proverbs 17:17, NLT
Quote
“A friend is one who knows you and loves you just the same.”
~Elbert Hubbard
I measure wealth by the number of friends I have. I am not naive, I do know that everyone who pretends to be a friend is not, but I also know that a true friend is loyal and they look beyond your faults. If you know me, you know me; I don’t do a lot of pretending. It might be better if I did but I just can’t seem to make that work for me. My friends don’t always agree with me; sometimes that just laugh and shake their heads. They know all my hangups and idiosyncratic ways. They tell me when they think I am wrong and I listen. I need encouragement but I don’t want to be surrounded by ‘yes men’. Iron sharpens iron and I can get dull in a hurry.
With that said, I appreciate my friends and I take pride in being loyal to them. Some years ago I had someone come to me who was upset with one of my dear friends. After his diatribe of ill feelings toward my friend I simply said, “I was’t there but I don’t think he is guilty of what you are accusing him of and until I see different, I am not changing my position. He is a friend and he has helped me countless times. I think you have misunderstood his actions and I do not share your opinon of him.” It has never been brought up again and I see this person all the time. I hope and pray that both are my friends. Listen folks, we all have moments of weakness and it may be true that my friend had a bad day but he is still my friend.
In these weak moments of anger and frustration, we say and do things that we don’t mean and later regret. Like a steam kettle, the heat builds up and we pop off, releasing frustrations. It happened to the best of us. A friend listens sensitively and then keeps it to themselves. A tale bearer runs to the second party and say, “Do you know what Bro. Jack said about you.” There is nothing noble about a tale bearer or a gossip; there is nobility in friendship. The idea is to protect your friends, not stab them in the back. I’ve had it happen and it hurts.
Extra
Really nice coming to the office, not cold at all. They say rain is coming and we need it. I have more burning to do but not until it rains. Meeting my good friend Kevin for lunch: we are going to try a new place. Good program last night. Doug did a good job putting it together and we had a good crowd; more than normal. Colleen sang a song I had never heard. It is called one King and the chorus goes like this…
One king held the frankincenseOne king held the myrrhOne king held the purest goldAnd one king held the hope of the world
Blake accompanied Doug on O Beautiful Star of Bethlehem. I tried to record a little for you but I could not get it to upload. Everyone who participated did well and the congregational singing was good. Carol couldn’t talk but she sang; it was amazing. After hearing her try to talk, I thought there is no way she can sing but she did. I don’t know how. June and I enjoyed the program. Looking forward to Sunday as we talk about Emmanuel, God with us.
June told me last night that our grandson Landon reads the blog and he wondered how many people read it. The answer is not many. The average is 67 per day with the best day being 383. It has had over a million views but that is over a period 15 years.
I hope you have a great day and I hope we get the rain.