Jesus (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Let me tell you about my friends and that doesn’t mean there are a lot and sometimes it feels like there’s not one. My real friends are real people in the best sense of the word, but I’m going to give them made-up names to protect their privacy. We have enough people up in our business, don’t we?
While we ate our lunch with the real good sugar-free pudding for dessert, Mr. Berrigan said he took a hard lick in life many years ago, like many of us do. He said you just can’t fully trust anybody but Jesus. If you take a hard lick in life, Mr. Berrigan almost cried, “You’re a good one if you survive it.” He survived.
Mr. Sibley told me he used to be a real drunk and so did I, so I understood what he meant when he said he never could get enough beer. Once upon a time, I never could get enough wine. Mr. Sibley and I stopped drinking alcohol. Mr. Sibley said Alcoholics Anonymous helped him stop drinking. A friend told him the biggest thing that helps you quit drinking alcohol is the desire to quit drinking alcohol. But when you’re in pain, it’s a hard lick to stop.
For me, stopping alcohol included thinking ahead to the consequences of saying or doing or not saying or doing regretful painful hurtful things to others and myself and feeling dizzy and sick and shaky. By the way, all these new laws they keep trying to pass to control or stop addictions won’t work. This is in the Bible in the book of Romans, where it explains that the more laws you make, the more you make people want to break the laws and find new ways to break them.
Although there are certainly times when the law has to bear the violent away, many times the law might leave the gentle captives alone and leave their healer-doctors alone too, when they’re trying to help. Don’t lawmakers and law enforcers know that addictions are sometimes somebody’s last friend on earth and what do you think happens when you try to take away somebody’s last friend?
Today Ms. LeSueur watered the plants in the front window for us and David showed me a Rosary bracelet he got at Claire’s for around $5 and he said he likes both the Miami Heat and Oklahoma Thunder. Mrs. Day said she didn’t feel like putting the Fourth of July decorations up yet. Mrs. Arendt said good-bye when she went outside to the bright sunshine and the other day, Ms. Goodman gave me her cup of vanilla ice cream. We all like to share and give each other little things. It makes you feel better than pudding.
Friendly people like this are hard to find and we are blessed when we find each other. Mr. and Mrs. Zahn asked me to step outside and see their new white motorcycle, which has a “God is love” decal on the back fender. On the gasoline tank is a beautiful, perfectly-drawn black, white and gray sketch of Jesus wearing the Crown of Thorns and there is a picture of His Sacred Heart, too.
Right before we all went our ways for the day, Mrs. Zahn looked at that picture of Jesus while she looked for her motorcycle helmet, which was in the side satchel. She said, “He’s the best Friend you’ll ever have.” Right this minute, it’s possible to need a friend more than anything in the world. Jesus will be our friend. He says so. Jesus’s earthly friends are human, but let’s try not to leave anybody out or send anybody away. I read a phrase in a book one time that struck me about being “born on purpose.” I don’t remember the book title but I remember that important, life-giving phrase by that author. He said we are born on purpose and not by accident. Let’s try to choose each other on purpose too.
Yes, Jesus and His real friends try to choose each other on purpose when we’re able. Jesus doesn’t like to leave any searching lonely soul out in the cold and He’ll move heaven and earth to find just one friend and bring him or her home with Him, no matter what. You can trust Jesus when there’s nobody else. Jesus will be there for you and for me. He guaranteed it with His own life and death and Resurrection. He’s in heaven right now, at the right hand of God, praying for His friends.
February 11, 2013
Brook
