Well it seems like that is an obvious statement. I used to have a blog over on Multiply and I met a few nice people over there but slowly they all went their separate ways and so did I. I’ve played around with a few other spaces to blog here and there, mostly Livejournal but it’s been even longer since I have logged into that site. I have an old friend whose blog I came across the other day and started thinking maybe I should get back to mine, instead of scrolling around on hers. We aren’t friends anymore, sadly. After Trump was elected president we had a disagreement about Kim Jong Un, the North Korean dictator. She was upset that the president threatened them with “fire and fury”, at least that’s what I think she was upset about. Anyway, at the time I didn’t see the big deal, the president was still fairly new and his rhetoric well known so I wasn’t concerned. To be honest, I can’t tell you for sure that I understand what made her so upset, all I know is she unfriended me on Facebook and hasn’t talked to me since. Go figure, sometimes there’s just nothing to be done. I miss her though. We both shared certain traits that made it easy to relate and understand, a similar world view you might say. Well, a world view, at least where God is at the center, though I’m not certain of that now. Seems to be so easily tossed aside, maybe we didn’t share anything?
If I think about that situation too long I get sad, not because I think I did something wrong but because I don’t understand how you just toss away a friend. A friend who went to visit you when you were doing chemo, who changed vacation plans so her and her family could be there to support. A friend who shared her heart with you. A friend who loved you. I have grown too old, maybe, to believe that I am not worthy of better from a “friend”. I’m not a perfect person but I try my best to follow God and do good things. I feel I am deserving of a friend who loves me and doesn’t consider me toss away material. I feel that strongly and so I don’t think I’ll ever talk to her again because that would require her to realize what she did and apologize. I have noticed not very many people are willing to apologize when they are wrong. I’ve noticed even fewer who actually think they are wrong. It’s a crazy time we live in, isn’t it?
So what kind of friend do I deserve? If I look at the bible, it tells me I am “fearfully and wonderfully made.” The Bible tells me I am “God’s beloved.” It also says not to “fear” and to “have faith.” Other bible verses about friendship:
“Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”
“Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.”
“Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:”
“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
“That is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.”
“Do not forsake your friend and your father’s friend, and do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity. Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away.”
“Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him. And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.”
There are more verses about friendship in the Bible but if I take all of these and look for common themes, a few emerge, like, love, encouragement, presence, empathy, faithfulness. These are hard virtues to come by these days in a friend but when I’m looking for answers I think God always has the best ones. His words never lead me astray and so I have come to the sad conclusion that even though my friend also loves God, our friendship was not meant for Earth. There is too much noise here to see past each others motives.
Not exactly upbeat thoughts to start blogging about but it’s a start and hopefully I”ll be back and writing more. I’m out of time for today.
Things I’m thankful for today: I was able to put out a fire in my classroom. My sister’s wedding is almost here. The class I substituted for today was good. My husband. My knee is getting better so I will run again soon.
For these things…IGT!
KOR!
Thankful Runner Girl 