Ole Friend,
I received the letter you wrote following the election. I was going to write back right away, but thought I would wait until things settled down a bit.
I remember in there you made reference to the word “Friends”. More specifically, I think you use the word “Liberal” to describe some of those “friends”. I started to
thinking about an e-mail I received several months ago from an old high school-mate and neighbor, back home. She was to me and many others identified, affectionately, “Sister Shara”. She was the girl in school, very quiet, studious, and came from a staunch Christian home. Shara was the one we would go to for help with English or Math assignments, you know the type, and the ground she stood on was solid. Well, we had been exchanging thoughts on knowing our friends and how we evaluate friendship’s.
Shara’s comments have stuck in my mind, I’d like to share them with you, I think they are worth repeating;
“Many years ago, I realized my life seemed to have a
swinging door on both ends and a constant parade of
people going through those doors. I asked the Lord why
people have cradle to grave friendships, and I have a constant
turnover. I didn’t hear any voices or see visions or anything,
but I came to realize over the next few weeks that my Lord sent
two kinds of people into my life; there were those to encourage
and guide me and those He sent to me to mentor and nurture.
When that job was finished, He moved them on to others for
the next chapter in their lives. Everyone I meet is a special and
divine appointment for a time known only to God. Nobody
leaves angry, it seems they just move on in their lives. Most
likely, I move on too, I’m just not aware of it. With Jesus, we are
never alone, and that friendship is eternal.”
That was the heart of Jane’s message to me, but out of it I have developed a better understanding of “My Friends”.
There are people I interact with, some more frequently than others, but there is a similar thread among us all, we share similar needs, and ideas. Our “Core Values” are basically all the same. These are the people we feel comfortable around.
They are our support group. Should we begin to get too much negativity from one of these people, we have the choice to continue to interact with that person, or to realize this friendship is not in line with the direction we am going. The contact can remain in our loop, but only at a distance, and in some cases we may have to break all ties with that person, because they are just too incompatible with where we want to be.
I once heard the comment, “If you claim to have a lot of friends there is a flaw in you selection of who you call a friend.”
We have “friends”, and then we have “Friends”. We have to be able to know the difference.
Select wisely "My Friend",
Leroy