All-season Radical Friends

If the shear creativity, wisdom and beauty of the people who are in my life could be harnessed into a single beam of light, it would shine brighter than the sun. If directed toward creating peace throughout the entire world, it could be accomplished in the blinking of an eye.

But that won’t happen. That isn’t the plan. Instead, these people are in my life to journey along with me and brighten my little corner of the world and show me how I can have peace. Some of them passed through so quickly, just dropping a lesson that was required of me to learn and some are in for the long haul. Each one of them is greater than the sum total. Each has a gift so precious and so necessary to my life that if I had not known them, I would be so very incomplete.

Am I, in turn, part of their journey … do I bring a message or a lesson as they do for me? I don’t know the answer to that but I pray I am at least a worthy part of their lives.

I don’t think they are aware of their impact or have foreknowledge of this plan that was created especially for me. They go about their lives as naturally as can be, never stopping to realize their importance. One thing though that they all have in common is that they live life to its fullest, swallow the last drop, consume every morsel and envision all that can be. Many create that which was not in existence before. They all paint the scenes that others can not see, whether with their words, music or with the particular gift they have been given.

They are the originals, the first editions and the unique who breathe life into my soul and lead me to an oasis when I have gone off course and find myself in a desert place that quickly tries to hold me until all that is left is my worthless carcass. They have an uncanny way of being just where I need them to be so that when I arrive they have already cleared that spot, made it bearable and most importantly, passable.

They show, rather than tell, how to survive great loss and how to celebrate the tremendous beauty that is all around, just waiting to be noticed. Some personify inanimate objects and thereby show me how to view my surroundings with appreciation and they do this either with photos snapped at the perfect instant or with the pictures their words create in my spirit, or sometimes, a melody that lies harmlessly some place in the back of my brain until it plays quite unexpectedly and dissolves the veil between now and what was then.

I have the finest of God’s creations on this path with me right now and if they depart for places I can not follow, I will try to remember that there have been others who did not remain but still they touched my life, my heart, and remain a close memory. One, who is with me now, showed me how we let go with grace and love for those who depart. Another showed me how to live life in such a way that others will be able to let go in the same manner when it is my turn to depart.

The One who knows the end from the beginning is the choreographer and I only need align my will with His. He has placed more than one person in my life to help me realize this and they are kept busy showing me this truth. I am flawed, as we all are and tend to take back difficulties that I have laid at the feet of God, as if I have a better plan.

It was in talking with Him that these words came to me to be shared. It is time to express my love for these people and my genuine gratitude for their friendship and the extraordinary comfort and true joy they deposit in my life on a regular basis. If you are reading this, you are probably one of the many that I will not name, but who should know who they are. If I attempted to name each and every one the list would stretch across oceans … actually the silent list does that already.

I love you my friends and family.