Friday, November 1, 2024

Be A Friend

 I don't know how some weeks it is Friday and all the ideas and thoughts I have rolling around in my head haven't come out in some form. 
And today was no exception....then I read something and here I am!
A portion of a book...not a scholarly book, or a deeply spiritual book, a children's book. But with deep meaning put down in simple form and spoken by endearing characters. 
Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne.

It occurred to Pooh and Piglet that they hadn’t heard from Eeyore for several days, so they put on their hats and coats and trotted across the Hundred Acre Wood to Eeyore’s stick house. Inside the house was Eeyore.

“Hello Eeyore,” said Pooh.

“Hello Pooh. Hello Piglet,” said Eeyore, in a Glum Sounding Voice.

“We just thought we’d check in on you,” said Piglet, “because we hadn’t heard from you, and so we wanted to know if you were okay.”

Eeyore was silent for a moment. “Am I okay?” he asked, eventually. “Well, I don’t know, to be honest. Are any of us really okay? That’s what I ask myself. All I can tell you, Pooh and Piglet, is that right now I feel really rather Sad, and Alone, and Not Much Fun To Be Around At All. Which is why I haven’t bothered you. Because you wouldn’t want to waste your time hanging out with someone who is Sad, and Alone, and Not Much Fun To Be Around At All, would you now.”

Pooh looked and Piglet, and Piglet looked at Pooh, and they both sat down, one on either side of Eeyore in his stick house.

Eeyore looked at them in surprise. “What are you doing?”

“We’re sitting here with you,” said Pooh, “because we are your friends. And true friends don’t care if someone is feeling Sad, or Alone, or Not Much Fun To Be Around At All. True friends are there for you anyway. And so here we are.”

“Oh,” said Eeyore. “Oh.” And the three of them sat there in silence, and while Pooh and Piglet said nothing at all; somehow, almost imperceptibly, Eeyore started to feel a very tiny little bit better.

Because Pooh and Piglet were There. No more; no less.

A.A. Milne The House On Pooh Corner (1928)


πŸ“– A friend loves at all times,

    and a brother is born for a time of adversity. Proverbs 17:17



πŸ“–  Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friendsJohn 15:13


What a friend needs at a particular moment will look different. 
Laying down one's life may not mean actual death, but the sacrifice of our time, scheduled plans or our needs to just be there for someone who needs another present. 
πŸ™πŸΌLord, show us, lead us, fill us, strengthen us, to be a friend today.♥️

πŸ“–  This is my command: Love each other. John 15:17

1 comment:

  1. Thank you for sharing this example of love & kindness for a dear friend in need ❤️

    ReplyDelete