Embraced

By Keith N Fisher

Where do you go when life comes at you like a freight train and you’re running across a trestle, carefully stepping on each rail tie, and wishing you’d taken the highway?

We all have troubles. Some more than others of us, but eventually we end up trying to outrun an elephant stampede, knowing one misstep would mean the end of our life in an unappealing way.

When you get to the point where you must jump off the bridge or be squashed by the train, do you find safety in the water?

From the beginning of our childhood, each of us learns to take care of our self. We learn to feed ourselves, go to the bathroom, tie our shoelaces, and talk on the phone. Later we learn things like getting along with others or staying under the radar of the playground bully. We spend our whole lives believing we don’t need anybody. We can stand on our own two feet. We can cut it alone.

Then, sometime during adolescence we lose all sense of direction. We fall in love with a member of the opposite sex. After falling off the romance roller coaster, we lick our wounds, kick ourselves for losing control and vow to never be taken in, again.

We don’t need anyone. We got along just fine without a boy/girlfriend before, and we can do it again.

Sooner or later we discover the erroneous attitude of self-accomplishment. The little red hen realized she had to do the work, or the bread wouldn’t get made. Then she refused to share, saying I did it all myself. I deserve all the credit.

The problem here is the hen didn’t remember who gave her the field to plant. Who made the seeds grow. Who sent the rain, and who helped her every step of the way. She never once gave credit where credit was due.

Recently, I heard about a study, conducted by professors at Brigham Young University and they concluded we’re healthier if we have friends. The reporter listed all the things having no friends is worse than. Such things as heart disease, and obesity. They say our bodies respond to interaction with friends.

It seems the song, No Man is an Island has connotations far beyond the simple feeling of brotherhood it represents.

May God grant you serenity to realize He is your best friend, but He has given you a life full of opportunities to embrace people who could save your life. If you cultivate good friends, they will catch you when you jump from the bridge. They will lift you up, out of the path of danger.

I want to take this opportunity to say thank you to my good friends. Thank you for putting up with my bull headed pride and thank you for saving my life.