Lazarus didn’t post his
resurrection on social media (‘Puppy is glad master returns to life’). A small
circle of friends knew of his sickness.
That same circle grieved at his death, a larger circle was aware of
Jesus raising him from the dead. Still
it was a very private and personal event affecting primarily Lazarus, his
family and close friends. We see the
world through a private prism and close friends walk with us through our
experience.
This prism is uniquely my
prism; the way I see the world not perfectly balanced, my fear, paranoia and
personality color my perception. Lazarus
had his sisters---and Jesus in the flesh.
His acquaintances may have seen him weeks before he got sick and maybe a
month later. “Hey Laz, you’re lookin
good. What’s shakin? Anything new?” Not being in the close group they missed his
brutal sickness, his slide into death and his resurrection. His close friends knew---they were there
through all of it.
The more things change the
more they stay the same. In an age of social
media we still connect with others as we always did. Sure I like knowing what your cat is up
to. But what impacts me—and you---is the
time and work we put into personal connections.
The phone calls we make to each other, the hour sipping coffee with one
another mid week, the texts that we shoot to each other to find out if we’re
still shining in the midst of the encroaching darkness. That’s the point.
Though my prism is unique;
God made you my friend because you see and understand my viewpoint. Sometimes you grieve with me. Often you come alongside like Jesus in the
flesh; to comfort me or question me---making my perspective more reasonable and
realistic.
The prism can imprison
too. Tempting to pull into myself and
give into my view. That too is why I
invest in relationship with you my close friend. I may need you to pull me back from the
abyss. Its reciprocal. One day I will be there for you as well. Meanwhile: you should see how this girl
trained her dog to do circus tricks!
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