Christian Living

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Larry Lilly's Letter Friday May 2, 2008

I never cease to be amazed at the events life holds for us all, some good and some painful beyond words. I usually check the numbers on the phone to see who called while I was out and if I recognize the number I call the person. This proves that I am NOT an attorney!

I noticed a number from a friend of many years on Thursday when I returned home. After the hello's he told me that he had resigned under pressure due to a dumb remark he had made before thinking. I assured him that he was capable of making a dumb remark even if he had been thinking. I was appalled at the remark that got him into the hot water, it being such a petty one, but then I have a more callused sense of things. Having been on the spot where my friend is now standing, I feel for him and I am making a few calls on his behalf. I am in the enviable position of not really caring about what others may think, therefore I can help him with at least a recommend. Of course many in my group would count a recommendation from me in much the same light as Obama's Rev. Wright.

Several years ago I read a little ditty, with hair on it, (doggerel) and I pass on to you in the hopes that you will at least think about the wisdom contained therein:

"Two things stand like stone-- Kindness in another's trouble, Courage in our own"

A major prayer in my life has been that I might face the realities of my life with courage. I have faced a few things that caused me to doubt any supposed courage, yet the Lord brought courage to my heart as I read again the grand stories of men and women of courage in the Bible and literature. John F. Kennedy's "Profiles In Courage" was a courage stimulator as was "The Pilgrim's Progress" by John Bunyan. Many other accounts such as Saint John on the Island of Patmos, a famous prison rock quarry and being in the spirit in spite of horrendous circumstances. In all honesty I must admit that on occasion after having demonstrated courage, I wish I had been more chicken hearted. Sometimes the consequences of courage can be very painful, but then inner peace is worth a little pain.

I have discovered something that amazed me at first, and it is this; to have the courage to stand with a friend in trouble is usually more painful with often devastating consequences than to stand for your own convictions.

I recall the basic facts of a high ranking politico in the days of President Harry Truman. The man became involved in a scandal and his name was all over the newspaper, radio and gossip in the power rooms in the cities of America. Out of the blue President Truman went to see him, talked about old times and assured the fallen man of his friendship in spite of everything. When accosted by some in the media about this, Harry Truman said, "He was my friend on the way up, and he is still my friend and that's it." I do not have the exact statement, but this is the gist of it.

Comments like this remind me of Proverbs 17:17 "A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity." It is of utmost importance to BE this kind of friend.

Larry Lilly Copyright © 2008 Use with credit

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