On Kinship

                                                         

 

I am blessed to be surrounded by people who love me and even like me. My list of what I call casual friends is long but a similar list of true heart-to-heart soulmates would be very short. (You know who you are.)  We need those people in our lives who love us no matter what; who hold us accountable to live up to who we say we are; who seem to know just when to reach out to us when we think our heart cannot bear one more rip, one more attack by the Enemy, one more sadness, one more piece of bad news. The joy comes in not only having that compassionate friend but also in being one. Sometimes the best things kindred souls can share is a heartache.

There are dozens of books, cards, signs, magnets - what have you - that attempt to define that special bond, but the best one I've ever seen is simply this:

                         ~~~~~~~~  Compassion is your hurt in my heart. ~~~~~~~                                                     

I heard a story about a little girl who went next door to play with her best friend and was told to be home in time for dinner. When she wasn’t, her mother phoned the neighbor and asked that her daughter be sent home immediately. 

The concerned mother gently scolded the little girl and asked why she had deliberately disobeyed.  “It wasn’t d’libertly,“ she said.  “Isabella’s doll was broken.” 

Mother asked, “Well, were you fixing it?"  Shaking her head and blinking through thick, wet lashes, the little girl said  “Oh, no, mama; she can’t be fixed.  She’s broke real bad.”  Surprised, her mother asked, “Well, then, honey…what were you doing?” 

The little girl paused and then said softly… “I was helping her cry.”

 “…the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as himself.” I Samuel 18:1a (NASB)