A Friend

I need a friend so badly that I can cry.

I want someone just to be a friend.

Maybe I don’t know how to be one.

Maybe I just don’t understand what being a friend means.

The one thing I know is that my tears are burning my eyes,

Just feeling that emptiness of my soul.

What more can I do to have a friend?

Where do I have to go to find it?

How long do I have to wait?

I long for the one,

That without too many words or deeds,

Can communicate we are one,

We are friends.

Do I have someone who doesn’t know

I am here and waiting?

Come my friend I need to talk to you.

And Jesus responded, “I am here.”

Expressions of Our Faith

In the middle of a group trip through the mountains, we stopped to admire the landscape that was in front of us. It was supreme, unbelievable, so much to see and comprehend. We turned our heads all around trying to see everything, and even in that way we couldn’t see it all at once for our eyes could only capture a section at a time. Even still it was tremendous.

We were so impressed with the view that each person made an attempt to let the people we left at home know all about this place.

One person took a picture with a polaroid camera that spit out the photo shortly after you pressed the button. Details of the scene were transformed in the photo either because the camera could only focus on one spot, or because the colors were transformed and not the true colors. In any case, the photo looked funny and did not capture the beauty of this place.

Another person painted a picture. He painted only a section of the view of what his eyes could see. The painting was fabulous and of course the artist could see what he left out. But in the eyes of others it was a nice painting and nothing more.

Another person decided to write a poem. His description was great, and when he read it his emotions were expressed through the tears in his eyes. But when he passed it to others, they read it with cold emotion. Only a touch of inspiration was noted but they saw only a poem.

Another person decided to take a tablet and describe it. Taking the time to put her thoughts in what she saw, trying to describe every detail that she remembered. In another’s hand it was a long description with many details of a nice place. But, without the knowledge of the place it became a long, long summary. Oh, oh, oh.

And when comparing the picture, the painting, the poem and the description of this place it was like they were describing different locations. Yet we know it was the same place.

Isn’t that the same with God, with our faith, with our religion. Think about it. How can we express in one minute, in one hour, in one life time the whole panorama of the magnificence of God? How can we express the emotion that comes in us and most of all how can we make ourselves understood for the people that haven’t been there?

So let us, being simple, start with understanding the words “I am”.

A Pattern to Follow

Patterns. Recipes. Programs. It’s all needed in order to create something. Patterns can help a seamstress to create anything from a beautiful gown to a simple blanket. Recipes can provide something as basic as pudding to a more complicated creme brûlée. As for programs, well what seems complicated to me is quite easy for my children and grandchildren.

Without a pattern, the most beautiful material might as well be thrown in the hamper. Without a recipe, ingredients might as well remain on the shelf for all the good they’ll do. Without a program, the best state-of-the-art computer cannot help its user to perform wonders at their fingertips.

By following the guidelines creating what is set before you can be done. It’s the same way in life, we have many examples to follow. When we are a little one, our parents are a figure to follow. We dream of ourselves becoming like them. And if we have brothers and sisters older than us, they become our ideals. We worship every thing they do, they say, etc. When we’re in school, our teachers will take the place of our ambitions. We want to be as big a figure and as smart as they are.

For me, my example started when I was an infant. Glands are either side of my throat blocked the way for food to enter my stomach. I also couldn’t breathe very well. The doctor told my mother that an operation was needed immediately. His words were, “The baby is going to die if we don’t do the operation. And, since she is so little, we can not put her to sleep, so there is one chance in a hundred that she will recuperate to be a healthy girl.”

My mother promptly took me to the church that was close to the hospital and placing me on the altar spoke to God. “She is your daughter. If she is going to die in the operation take her. But, she will die without it.” Returning to the hospital she handed me over to the doctor who immediately performed the operation. And for years my mother pointed to the scars on either side of my neck as reminders that God gave me a new life. Reminding me that I was God’s child and that if he saved me it had to be for something special.

That was my example. As I grew older I did not become beautiful or smart but everything I did became great. I learned all kinds of things and I taught the people what I learned. I could recognize the presence of God with me. Oh, I was not a perfect child. Yes, there were many times of going my own way and displaying naughty faces. But, they were little detours. Taking a moment from time to time to touch the scars on the side of my neck would remind me of my true nature. I am a creation of God. My pattern, “Jesus Christ.” My goal, the perfect image of God. After all He gave me a new life.