The Way We Were…the Way We Are ~ Bread for Beggars

How did we get to where we are?

I wish I had all the friends I’ve had over the years around me now so I could ask them that question.

It’s amazing for me to see just how much the challenges over the years can get so easily swallowed up in my memory by the pleasant times I spent with my friends. The laughter that came from jokes only we around the cafeteria table could possibly understand. The true-life stories only we experienced and can now tell. The adventures only we embarked on. The camaraderie that made us feel like we had a home with each other.

I look back at the artifacts from that time — the notes, the pictures, the glimmers of recollection that come to mind — and wish so much I could go back and live it over again with my friends (without the challenges, of course). Take better advantage of the opportunities I had to be with them. Treasure them more than what I did. Hold on to them more tightly so they didn’t slip from my grasp by the stalwart hands of life and time.

But I know I can’t go back.

Years have passed; we have changed. We can never again be those young children getting together for playdates, those high school teenagers walking to class, those college students trying to find themselves while discovering each other.

Life has happened — and whether we like it or not, it has molded us.

I’m seeing friends go off and do amazing things — fully embracing the words of the Teacher in Ecclesiastes, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might…” (9:10a) I’m seeing them make new connections, start new chapters, take the next steps in discovering their evolving identities in this world.

I’m also seeing them endure and witness the frustrating, the grievous, the complex realities of life. Toil, heartbreak, pain, wickedness — death.

Like a glorious sunset melting into the horizon, the days of my youth with friends seem far off in the distance now, a memory of another time and place…

But here, in front of me, as I stand on the shores of my life, I still see the images of those days and the faces I came to know, to appreciate, to rely on, reach out to me — they shimmer like the reflection of sunlight on water. A remnant of the joy I felt back then has stayed with me.

That remnant continues to bathe me in its warmth whenever I remember. Whenever those faces come back into my life, real and in the flesh. Whenever I recall a story, look at a picture, let out a laugh.

It is quickly buy uk viagra absorbed into the bloodstream and reaches to the penile organ of the man. levitra online The pharmaceutical product is supplied from Ajanta Pharma in every nook and corner of the Britain. Manning’s story is one of hope – for those experiencing medical problems online viagra australia http://valsonindia.com/air-texturised-yarn-for-automotive-industry/?lang=sq with their genitals. Besides, another symptom is that you find an authentic source, since that will help viagra pharmacy prices you to consume Kamagra in a better and safer way.

I am reminded of all the good things I have received from knowing these friends. I am reminded of the God who gave me those good things and gifted me with those friends in the first place. The God who was my very first Friend — and has been there ever since.

“Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.“
1 John 4:11

Despite the miles, the years, the circumstances that may separate me from my friends now, the freedom to love, to cherish, to pray, and to support them is always there. The freedom to express gratitude for them is always there for the taking. That will never change — just as our Friend never changes.