A man who has friends must himself be friendly,
But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24
Just before the snow (remember that?) I did a favor for a friend. My friend John has had two heart attacks, and has had Parkinson’s for three years. John was a High School English teacher and is quiet a poet.
With his ailments he had increasing problems with his front stairs, and I was concerned he would have trouble with them especially in the winter. In October I traveled to his home in Ottawa and over two days built him new stairs. While John is no carpenter, he is as I mentioned, an accomplished poet.
A few days after I returned home, I received a beautiful watercolor painting with a poem that carried a special message for me.
I would like to share some of it with you.
FRIENDSHIP
There is a FRIENDSHIP
In the harbor of our hearts
Its destination is world unity
Its passengers are to include everybody
Every man woman and child
No exceptions allowed
This ARK ain’t just two of a kind
We all started this voyage together
Our destiny is to return as one
One heart
One soul, one spirit
One family, one people
One blood
One sacred tree… called Humanity
INDIVISIBLE
It don’t matter, we all can’t believe
It don’t matter, if we all can’t conceive
We are one
It’s beyond us, its not in our hands
We’re all just actors in God’s greater plan.
I truly hope you enjoyed the words. I must say it touched me. John has always worked in his time on Earth to include everyone in his joy and celebration of life. His friendship is something I will always treasure, his love warm and kind I will share eternally.
I have struggled living inside my head for so long. Trying to understand truth and laboring within my own meager wit. I believe God’s quiet message for me is in the last two lines of John’s poem. For this I thank God and of course my friend John.