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A not-so-random piece of trivia: yesterday was Ringo Starr's 70th birthday. I know this because the radio station that's on all day as I work mentioned it. The DJ also said that the Beatles song "I get by with a little help from my friends" was written by John and Paul specifically for Ringo to sing. With these bits of information in my head, my thoughts then wandered down a lovely path that started with the title of a Beatles song.
I started thinking about how my friends influence my life, and how grateful and blessed I am. And more specifically, how blessed I was to have you all as part of my Torrey group and as part of the Biola community. How different my college experience would have been without the all-nighters, birthday parties, Apples-to-Apples, roommates, after session sessions, beach days, park afternoons, phone calls, and so on and on. I've had much more than "a little help from my friends." Sadly, the lyrics to the Beatles song are rather shallow and often distinctly inapplicable to our friendships ( "I get a little high with my friends"), and I really wish the song did a better job. I'm not going to write my own song about friendship, but I thought that I just might put this post together to say "thank you" again to my wandering chums.
Over the last two days I've had a few phone conversations that were very thought-provoking. The first conversation took place last night, and among many other things, my friend and I discussed things at Biola that helped shape us and make us into the individuals that we are today. I remembered many things that I had semi-forgotten, and put pieces together about those events that I hadn't before. Without going into specifics, I'm amazed at the timing of the events and the growth that I experienced at Biola.
When we're in Heaven, I believe that God will spend eternity showing us how He worked and the goodness He created and brought forth throughout the universe, in the world, and in each individual's life. The intricacies upon intricacies will keep us praising Him for all eternity, because His works are infinite. Yesterday I experienced a small portion of that eternal banquet, and I'm grateful for that.
The second conversation happened a few hours ago, and a different friend and I discussed events that had taken place since May. It rapidly became clear to me that God was working just as diligently and beautifully in our lives over the last few months as He had at any time previously. We say that we believe that God never changes, but seeing Him work is always a real thrill to me.
Thank you my friends for sharing so much Goodness, Truth, and Beauty with me. You all have been His willing instruments in my life and I thank you for it. May you all see God work in your lives, and may you all be blessed by Him.
A servant of El Elyon,
Sam
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Sam, this is beautiful. Thanks. You have definitely been one of God's willing instruments in my life as well.
ReplyDeleteI have had several conversations with friends this week also that have produced a similar effect in me. Some Franciscans, two friends from high school and perhaps the most critical one was last night where a friend and I cleared up a rather large misunderstanding that had been lingering for about a month.
ReplyDeleteThank you Sam for posting this. Thank you, all of you, for being able to see the good in me and in one another even at our ugliest moments.