Another week has passed and while it was not particularly stressful it has been full of reasons to be thankful. for there are friendships that you have that so important that when you have a little glitch in them things seem to get out of sync in your life (i had such an episode this week lol), there are friends that do not need constant attention to sustain; friends you don't see for years, meet then a couple a years down the line and be like; next page! a friend of mine said something very  profound and i just assumed was one of those cliche's that people read in a book and quote he said;

friends ; is Gods way of taking care of us, making sure that we are not alone

At the time that i first heard this quote, i didn't really fully appreciate the profundity of this statement as i have grown older and seen more Christmases i have come to have a new understanding how much friends contribute (literarily) to our sanity and success. there are friends who cry with us,pray with us, sing with us, stand with us, walk with us, believe with us and maybe be even more importantly believe in us. strange isn't it how we can take flack from just about anybody but crumble when we get even a watered down version of it from those that are close to us.case in point; In Shakespeare's Julius Cesare, we remember the line "...even you Brutus..." i don't think Cesare was hurt by the swords that were mercilessly plunging into his flesh he knew what he was up against in the senate,but to have his closet friend lay one into him probably took the stuffing out of him, at the other end of the friendship line is the biblical story of David and Jonathan, that expresses it depth in the lament of David when he found out about the death of his beloved friend in II Samuel 1vs 25. the friendship survived long after the death of Jonathan revealed in II Samuel 9 vs 1 where he asks if there was anyone who he could show kindness to in loyalty to the love of his friend Jonathan.

looking at all of this,  the question arises; what makes for a good friend?  how do i become a good friend to my own friends? what qualities do people look for in a friend?

A quick survey will reveal that most people consider shared interests and compatibility as boxes that must be ticked, similar social status also is a thing that counts for something in some friendships, a shared world view makes for understanding among peers. from my observation and in my experience, i think the most important quality in a friendship is loyalty and understanding. With both of these qualities in attendance , the aforementioned ones pale into insignificance or rather are placed on the back burner.

Marriage vows have these lines; "...for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health..."  in my opinion, the four of them cover everything that life will throw at you. to have someone who will stick with you or stand by you in either extreme is in itself a blessing of inestimable value. we expects our friends to be there for us in our time of tears, to believe in us in our time of trial, to stand by us through our storms, to root or cheer of us when everyone around us thinks we've lost our marbles. strangely though, although its not something we all admit at first we expect our friends to be able to tell us the truth as hard and hurting as it can turn out to be (with love of course). nothing hurts more than being surrounded by a bunch of sycophants who have no sort of criticism and make huge errors. We would be most deluded if we actively sought out people who would do this for us(check out the kind of people that dictators have around  them). A friend is the one person who will drag you into the mens room and tell you off but come out with his/her hands around you shoulders. thinking about this a line from a movie comes to mind ... this is a totaly stupid idea but if you are sure it'll make you happy i'm with you 100%... it just about sums what a friends position should be. if you have such a friend or are such a friend you are blessed.

 the point i'm trying to make is; we rise and fall based on who our friends are how far we go to a large extent depends on who we have running with us. There are several examples in the scriptures that make clear to us  how we can rise or fall by our associates of friends i'll give a few examples;

I kings21 vs 25 speaks of how king Ahab was urged to evil by his wife

II Samuel 13 tell of how Davids son Ammon lost his life after rather interesting advice from his friend

I kings 12 tells of how the heir to the most financially buoyant kingdom in the worlds history threw it all away

because of his friends

I Samuel 20 tells of how Davids throne was secured because of his friendship with Jonathan.

there are several stories in both the bible and the world we live in today about the triumphs and disasters that have been brought about my friendships, they go a long way to let us know that, friendship is a make or break issue in our lives. let us strive to be better friends to those to whom we are friends. time will fail me to talk about the strength that having a confidant gives us, that is for another blog

I've got a good feeling about this week. lets go out there and give it our best shot.

have fun y'all

Choices or choices?

it's been a rather largely sedate week. There haven't been a cataclysmic challenges although it has not been entirely smooth sailing, the lord has ensured that i haven't been pushed beyond my strength. Its surprising how easy it is for for people to accept that they have no options in a particular situation.
 This week we had a new teacher that had a certain reputation and for the first time in a long time my classmates were completely bereft of words in the class. The normally boisterous lot were strangely if atypically subdued. This was not unconnected with the reputation the said lecturer had, well the lecture started and voila! the lady in question was nothing like we or should i say they expected her to be. On the contrary, she was quite affable and the lesson went on smoothly as against our expectations. well the football team that i support Arsenal FC was in the news for the wrong reasons; they threw away a first half 4:0 lead to draw at the end(it was that kind of week). I forgot to say in my last blog that i started taking piano lessons from a rather talented teacher who plays at the opera here in Odessa; that is widely acclaimed as one of the best in Europe  the man is pretty good he knows his subject (you don't play in the opera just because you know the difference between a violin and a viola. lol smurf when you read this) but boy is it expensive!. below are some pics of the opera house

anyway speaking about peoples ease of acceptance of "facts" it all boils down to the word; choice. My freiend arkady  will always say;

"...God will never let you get into a situation where the only option left to you is sin..."

when people say; "...i had no choice..." it brings into question, did they really have no choice? or did they do the most convenient thing or take the first bus out of an unpleasant option?
In the course of this week i was drawn to two not so dissimilar situations involving two bible heroes in the book of Genesis 39 vs 1-21 and II Samuel 11vs 1-27 we see two very interesting choices made by these two heroes.
In my opinion the power choice is the only difference between man and the rest of creation the animals that we know as animals have their very natures thrust upon them a cat will do what cats do a lion will do what a lions does and you will expect nothing else from them (that is why circuses are such a big attraction because by systematic training men have been able to make animals go against their very nature and this is of great interest to the rest of us) so when the circus lion decides to "taste" the head thrust in to its mouth by one of the clowns, people say the lion went mad,i just think the lion went lion! i digress.
Humans are the only part of creation that have the ability to go against whatever nature is thrust upon them and " choose" to do anything one way or another. this perhaps is why we refer to people who do certain generally unacceptable things as animals!
Back to our heroes, Joseph in genesis chose not to do simple albeit pleasurable thing and David in  Samuel chose to do the arguably more difficult but equally pleasurable thing. on the basis of this suffice it to say that choices made are not exclusively a function of ease or convenience, but a product of desires and the ambitions that from them arise.for as the bible says

james 1vs13When someone is tempted, he shouldn't say that God is tempting him. God can't be tempted by evil, and God doesn't tempt anyone. 14Everyone is tempted by his own desires as they lure him away and trap him. 15Then desire becomes pregnant and gives birth to sin. When sin grows up, it gives birth to death. 16My dear brothers and sisters, don't be fooled.17Every good present and every perfect gift comes from above, from the Father who made the sun, moon, and stars. The Father doesn't change like the shifting shadows produced by the sun and the moonGOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)

 if we however, have our eyes on God he has promised as he always has;

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995) 1corinthians 10:13
There isn't any temptation that you have experienced which is unusual for humans. God, who faithfully keeps his promises, will not allow you to be tempted beyond your power to resist. But when you are tempted, he will also give you the ability to endure the temptation as your way of escape

 It doesn't get any easier with time or any or those Clichés  that we are so eager to fall back on, but if we keep our  eyes on him he will always come through for us. It's back to the mines Monday, lets go dig up some real good gems because our steps are ordered by the one who loves us.
keep ur head up!