Always good to have
June 9, 2010 (Wednesday)
Watching Carole King and James Taylor on P.B.S. over the weekend, I was struck by the obvious deep friendship that exists between those two famous entertainers.
During the program, James decided to tell the story of how he came to record, “You’ve Got a Friend,” in 1971 before Carole, who wrote the song, put out her own version of it. He gave full credit to Carole for writing the song, and then went on to tell how she brought it to him and suggested he include it on his album, which meant his version would hit the shelves before hers. It was a big hit for him, rocketing him to prominence that he has had up to this day. It was on Carole’s album, too, one of the biggest sellers of all time, but her version was not the first one heard by fans around the world. I find it significant that such a beautiful act of friendship would accompany the meaningful words of a truly great song about it. Of course, many other artists have recorded the song in the nearly forty years since it was written. The ones by Carole and James will be extra special to me now that I’ve heard the story behind them. (Click here for the words).
Long ago, the Book of Proverbs became a part of the Holy Scriptures, and one of those gems of wisdom says, “A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24). The meaning of the proverb is simple: “One can have lots of friends by being friendly, and among those there may be one very special friend who is closer to you than anyone else in the world.”
I hope you have such a friend. If you do, you are very fortunate.
I know you can have such a friend. His name is Jesus. And He wants to be your friend. At church we sometimes sing, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” and we always enjoy singing it, because it’s true. (Click here for the words).