Friends

March 10, 2016 Thursday)
Last week I had a body scan done, and yesterday I received a report that said the cancer has not spread to any of the bones in my body. My doctor and I have adopted a “wait and see” approach to my treatment. Once there is a significant change in the PSA count or a change in scan results, hormone injections will begin. At least, that is the way I understand the situation right now. The next appointment with my doctor is set for June 15. Thank you, all of you who are concerned and prayerful. You are a real blessing to me.
When these kinds of things happen in our lives, we are enabled to think more deeply about what is important. Of course, medical treatment is important. Family is important. Faith is important. Maintaining a positive attitude is important. Having a sense of humor is important. Friends are very important.
Many of the people we meet along life’s highway are like “bumper cars.” We meet each other but we move on to the next car in the rink. Then we go on to something else, remembering with pleasure that we bumped into somebody.
Others we get to know are like temporary passengers in our car. We know them. We remember when they got into the car, we have good conversations together, but we soon reach the destination and we go our separate ways. We like each other, and we enjoy the company of each other, but we never really get to know each other in the way that we know our closest friends and family members.
We thank the Lord for our families. We are tied together by blood. In reality, we are part of each other. Our DNA proves it. We love each other, because it is perfectly natural to do so.
And then there are the friends that we make as we make the journey from infancy to old age. These people are precious indeed to us. Sometimes they are family members and many times they are people whose road in life intersected ours. Our friendship may start as casual, but it gets more important as the years go by. We are not related by blood, but we are part of each other just the same. As we thank God for our blessings, let us always thank Him for the friends He has given us.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 ESV shows us the value of friendship:

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him–a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Here’s a beautiful poem about friends, based upon Joyce Kilmer’s poem, “Trees:”