Birthday Greetings

I called a very good friend of mine this morning to wish him, "Happy Birthday!" Though at the moment I happened to call he was working, he called back a bit later while on break and we had a few moments of really good conversation. Steve lives about 350 miles from here and we don't talk with each other nearly as often as we would like, but when we do talk, it is a bit like taking a drink of a cool, clear stream on a hot August day: Refreshment like no other! No matter how long the span between calls or visits, our friendship is such that we pick up where we last left off - and we are good for each other, which is a gift of God.

It made me pause and wonder how often I do that to God . . . you know, not call as often as I should, even when I know that the conversation will do my heart and soul good. I wondered if the 'stumbles' and 'issues' of life weren't, sometimes, just God's way of getting God's Name on my calendar, as Steve's name and age (He is much, much older than me!) is on my calendar, so that I would take the time to call and be in conversation. I pondered on the notion of how many times God has placed calls to me and I, after checking 'Caller I.D.', just let it go to the answering machine because I didn't have the time at that precise moment to talk . . . . . and I wondered what would happen if God started doing that to me.

Of all the gifts God gives us, friendship, true friendship, is of the greatest value, for in God's expression of friendship with all creation, we have come to know the fullness of God's commitment to our friendship through Christ. Maybe that is why I can count true friends on one hand, while acquaintances are numerous: few will go as far as to love me, especially when I am the most unlovable. I pray I am counted as 'friend' to many, but most of all to God, and this day I give thanks to God for Steve, for he reminds me of rich I really am in the company of the One who befriends us all. Thanks, Steve!

Your servant in Christ,

Pastor Don