Often people request prayers for deliverance, inner healing, or physical healing. But more frequently they simply want a man or woman to whom they can turn--not because of what this person is able to do but because of what he or she is: a person who makes them feel wanted, a friend to love them, one who generates an atmosphere of warmth and trust in which they are able to love in return.

Quite simply, our deep gratitude to Jesus Christ is manifested neither in being chaste, honest, sober, and respectable, nor in churchgoing, Bible-toting, and Psalm-singing, but in our deep and delicate respect for one another.

Your friendship has been like the refreshing shade of a vast tree in the noonday heat.

Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light."-Helen Keller Quote Read: 6/22/18

In our own woundedness, we can become sources of life for others.

Real care means the willingness to help each other in making our brokenness into the gateway to joy.

When two people have become present to each other, the waiting of one must be able to cross the narrow line between the living or dying of the other.

I have also learned to catch the darkness early, not to allow sadness to grow into depression or let a sense of being rejected develop into a feeling of abandonment. Even in the renewed and deepened friendship, I feel the freedom to point to the little clouds and ask for help in letting them pass by.

To console does not mean to take away the pain but rather to be there and say, "You are not alone, I am with you."

With a friend we don't have to say or do something special. With a friend we can be still and know that God is there with both of us.

When we think about the people who have given us hope and have increased the strength of our soul, we might discover that they were not the advice givers, warners or moralists, but the few who were able to articulate in words and actions the human condition in which we participate and who encouraged us to face the realities of life.

To give someone a blessing is the most significant affirmation we can offer. It is more than a word of praise or appreciation; it is more than pointing out someone's talents or good deeds; it is more than putting someone in the light. To give a blessing is to affirm, to say 'yes' to a person's Belovedness.