I treasure conversations between friends. I continue to rediscover that when friends talk, really talk, learning and revelation are the natural outcome. A short phrase triggers a new thought and self-discovery. An otherwise hidden word begins a new thread and opens a gateway into insight. As I reflect on several conversations of the past week, I realize that I am now older than most of my friends.
At a very young age, twelve as I recall, I went off to boarding school. Before anyone wonders about my behavior or how my parents were dealing with my youthful years, I need to explain. I lived in India, school options were limited, home school was not working, and the best option seemed to be to send me away where all my friends were going to school. I loved it!
During my first boarding year there was only one boy my age. A few younger, but most were several years older. I was lucky; they adopted me as their younger brother and the friendships that came from that time still bring back warm memories. The one thing that was slightly different was that all my friends were older. I began to understand the difference and actually enjoyed talking and playing with them. Over the years I discovered that my best friends were often four to five years older. It seemed I wanted to learn from their lives in order to get the most out of my own journey.
Today life is much busier than my childhood. People made decisions quickly and move on in a way that places any lessons from the decision to the side so that they can be easily forgotten. If there is anything that I want to pass on to those around me it is this; examine the results of decisions that take you away from God. It is important to learn and grow. Life is precious, live it to the full. The key is with God.
“There’s a way of life that looks harmless enough; look again – it leads straight to hell.” (Proverbs 14.12)
