Four Old Friends & a Poem

Visits and connections with numerous "old" friends are converging this weeked. I am awaiting the arrival of Friend #19. We first met in the halls of music college, mainly because she knocked on my practice room to inform me I had to vacate. My time was up, and she was just letting me know. Things only got better from our first introduction, and we have shared a lot of life's experiences together: small group meetings, classical performances, joining a new church, first apartments, meeting our spouses, wedding ceremonies, taking turns leading worship, having children, and much more.
She is a ray of sunshine and a friend in all kinds of weather. (Also, she is queen of puns. The best part: she out-laughs everyone at her own witty jokes. )

Friend #19 is driving over 4 hours to visit me, that's true. But she is also coming to see a married couple we both know from college. They ( Eugene & Joy) are guest speakers at church this Sunday, and a BBQ will be held in their honor after the service. It is hard to keep track of Eugene & Joy, but I heard they are re-locating to Spain soon. So we will doubly enjoy their visit, as who knows when our paths might cross again?

Another "old" friend (namely #22) emailed me to say how much she enjoyed my post about freedom. She shared this original poem with me, inspired by her Bible-study on freedom and a visit to the Korean War Memorial. And with her permission, I now share it with y'all. Enjoy.

Know Freedom

In the middle of the crowd
With people bustling about
The statued men, frozen in time, stand.
Their bodies burdened with the weapons of war,
Their faces carrying the emotions of the day:
fear, determination, uncertainty, exhaustion.
And after the men, a wall,
With the simple words etched,
"Freedom is not free."
To remind us of the great price so many have paid
That we could know freedom.

And I thought of my friends,
And the struggle we are are in,
Battling the lies with God's truth.
Hearts burdened with the scars of the past,
Faces carrying the emotions of the battle:
fear, determination, uncertainty, exhaustion.
Identifying the lies that hold us captive,
Writing the truth on the wall of our minds.
Discovering the hard work that it takes
So that we can know freedom.

A new picture came to mind
In the middle of another crowd
With people bustling about
The Son of Man hung -the payment for all time.
His heart burdened with the sin of the world,
His body bearing the agony of the torture.
And His life and His death
Etched the truth on my heart.
Not only that He speaks truth,
But that He is Truth,
The Truth has set me free.
For now I know freedom.

-Laurie Hartman