Unlikely friendshipI guess I’m way behind the rest of the country, but I finally saw the musical “Wicked.”
What a happy surprise! While there are other themes, this was a story about friendship.
Two women who initially despise each other are thrown together as roommates. Gradually they appreciate and value their differences, hostility dissolves, and they recognize how their lives have been transformed and enriched as a result.
As they are about to part, realizing they may never see each other again, the ladies sing about the substance of friendship:
I've heard it said
What a happy surprise! While there are other themes, this was a story about friendship.
Two women who initially despise each other are thrown together as roommates. Gradually they appreciate and value their differences, hostility dissolves, and they recognize how their lives have been transformed and enriched as a result.
As they are about to part, realizing they may never see each other again, the ladies sing about the substance of friendship:
I've heard it said
that people come into our lives for a reason,
Bringing something we must learn,
And we are led to those who help us most to grow
If we let them, and we help them in return.
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today because I knew you
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today because I knew you
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
I do believe I have been changed for the better . . .
Because I knew you I have been changed for good.
The purpose of relationships is to bless. Someone wisely said, “When a relationship ceases to bless, it ceases to exist.”
The most important relationship any of us has, is to God, our creator. It’s like
that of a ray of light to the sun. The ray has every quality of the sun, and is vital to the sun’s shining – but is not the sun. The rays never touch each other, and do not intrude on each other. Each is needed and important to enhance the effectiveness of the rays next to it. Yet they are related to each other only by their relationship to their origin, the sun. The sun is their authority to go light up the dark places of the earth.
God, infinite Love, is our authority to light up the angry, hurting, misunderstood places of the earth. I believe that everyone who comes into our life experience has something to teach us. It isn’t always fun; sometimes we bristle at the lessons. An African-American friend once told me that something I had said was racist. I was crushed. Typical white reaction, “Me? How can you say that about me?”
Over time, I’ve understood what she meant. And I have tried to be more sensitive to the words I use and how they might be heard. It’s called thinking before speaking, and has been a very good life-lesson – one that I am still learning!
While grateful for warm and unconditional friendships, and amazed to be on the receiving end of such kindness, I am also grateful for those who have had the courage and honesty to tell me when they think I’m out of line.
As long as we are willing to learn, and to forget about being offended, we’ll be blessed even by those relationships that may not be warm and fuzzy.
The most important relationship any of us has, is to God, our creator. It’s like
that of a ray of light to the sun. The ray has every quality of the sun, and is vital to the sun’s shining – but is not the sun. The rays never touch each other, and do not intrude on each other. Each is needed and important to enhance the effectiveness of the rays next to it. Yet they are related to each other only by their relationship to their origin, the sun. The sun is their authority to go light up the dark places of the earth.God, infinite Love, is our authority to light up the angry, hurting, misunderstood places of the earth. I believe that everyone who comes into our life experience has something to teach us. It isn’t always fun; sometimes we bristle at the lessons. An African-American friend once told me that something I had said was racist. I was crushed. Typical white reaction, “Me? How can you say that about me?”
Over time, I’ve understood what she meant. And I have tried to be more sensitive to the words I use and how they might be heard. It’s called thinking before speaking, and has been a very good life-lesson – one that I am still learning!
While grateful for warm and unconditional friendships, and amazed to be on the receiving end of such kindness, I am also grateful for those who have had the courage and honesty to tell me when they think I’m out of line.
As long as we are willing to learn, and to forget about being offended, we’ll be blessed even by those relationships that may not be warm and fuzzy.
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Love never loses sight of loveliness.
Its halo rests upon its object.
One marvels that a friend
can ever seem less than beautiful.
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