“IN THE END, WE WILL REMEMBER NOT THE WORDS
OF OUR ENEMIES, BUT THE SILENCE OF OUR FRIENDS.”
As I am looking out at the hills, with a real chill out there, it is the time that I reflect on what the last year has resulted in. I have a tendency to be a little down because of all the friends that are not with me this year, and that list grows. Maybe it is the reality of the fact that none of us are getting out of here alive. Try to tell a kid about looking at the shortness of time will get you a blank stare most times. We all wish we could recover some of that energy of youth and couple it with the experience that we have.
Valuing what is truly important is a skill that comes with a lot of trial and error. Most of us are just amazed that the errors did not kill us in the first place. Without a solid faith in the saving grace, that has been given to us, is how we put into perspective just how things are. I once asked a bible scholar about the amount of evil in today’s world and his answer I will never forget. He told me that “the amount of evil in the world has not changed one bit from the beginning of history to this day”.
As people around the world are tortured and slaughtered for their faith, culture, and opinion, it still amazes me how so many in our country are actually distraught with the way an election has gone. I am sure that it would really be disheartening if you were actually in a city that is being bombarded, and you watch women and children being blown apart and wounded for just being in the wrong place.
Can I be concerned that as result of an election, that supposedly adults in higher education need safe spaces because their feelings have been hurt? Can I feel that an education paid for by parents or by indenturing a student for years of debt, is the major concern of a professor who rants and raves in a class that is not even of the subject they are suppose to be teaching?
When my friends have lost a young life, when others have lost precious friends to cancer, accident, and old age can I put a value on the ‘feelings’ of people who have not the sense to make the best of what they are given and expect themselves to be taken seriously be cause their feelings are hurt?
The joy of just living is being lost on those who have been given a false sense of worth. Where do you go to find joy? Open your eyes. Yes this is a lonely time of year for many but joy is all around even in tragedy. I may feel a bit down but I have a god-daughter who just received her PHD and my buttons are a popping.
I managed to get out and go to hear my friends do a Christmas show and it is a delight since I cannot get out and travel very much. It brings home how much a friendship is worth and how much music means in my life.
If you have actually ended a friendship over the election or any other petty thing go now and ask for forgiveness and give forgiveness. This is a time of year to reflect and appreciate what great things God has given us and the great hope of something better when our time is over.
