Absence

There have been long gaps in the relationship I have with a childhood friend.  I find it amazing to rediscover how comfortable I am being with him.  On this trip I met his older brother.  I also had the opportunity to introduce his older brother to my younger brother.  The outcome was a wonderful dialogue that I am confident will never end!  The sibling conversations crossed and wove in a pattern that made it seem like we had know each other for the large majority of our lives. 
I know that we will not always be together.  I know that life will take us on very different paths.  For now, there are two brothers from the Naga Hills walking with two brothers living somewhere a long ways away.  We walk, share stories from our past, wonder about the present and the future, and travel together.  I wish we could do this more often.  These are people I want to know more about!  They have stories from their lives that would enrich mine in unique ways.  For now the answer is patience.  We will walk for a time.  I will listen and be.  Nothing need be rushed as time will manage itself and our presence with each other.
As I reflect on the days to come, I know that I will be less full because of their absence.  I understand the emotion of others “as they watched, he [Jesus] was taken up and disappeared in a cloud.  They stood there, staring into the empty sky.”  (Acts 1.9)  They knew, I know, life will be different in the steps and days to come.  I also know that my life is richer for the time that I have spent with these two men and my brother.
The gift of this moment and others need not end with our parting.  I can take their approach to life and apply it to my own.  I can use their strength to take on the life as it will come.  I can use their wisdom as a guide for the problems of today.