The great agony of death is the parting of friends - we shall never meet again! Or shall we? Certainly not in this life but perhaps in others. If that is so, how many friends have we already made and lost in total? Countless thousands, perhaps. Do we ever meet them again? Are we now meeting some of them? Did we sit next to one on the bus or in the theater today? Did we drive past others today? What of those sad, lonely people we saw today? Is is possible that some of them were actually close, warm friends, dearly beloved from our distant past? Perhaps some of them might have been relatives from another time; a parent long passed from their old form, or children that we left behind long ago, in another time? How would we know? Were we absorbed in the latest popular tune or last weekend'’s game? Or the comics, or the news? Those people, were they all strangers? Were any of them old friends? How would we recognize them for who they really are? What secret signals could we use? What do we share and have in common? What if we treated them as if they WERE old friends? How would we do that? With a friendly glance, a warm smile, an atmosphere of acceptance and appreciation, perhaps. If they aren't old friends or long lost family, what harm could be done? If they are all old friends aren'’t we lucky? And maybe, just maybe, we may even make some new friends!
© John Womack, 2006. All Rights Reserved.
