a mess

"It is one of the severest tests of friendship to tell your friend his faults. So to love a man that you cannot bear to see a stain upon him, and to speak painful truth through loving words, that is friendship."

Henry Ward Beecher

It is a very hard thing to have to watch the faults of loved ones, and the faults of your own self, come to light. We are sometimes compelled to watch, partly unable to look away from finding that those you love are human just as you are--but mainly we are compelled by slowness of foot, not able to run fast enough away from the mess to avoid the sad revelation. Life recently seems set for such a course - and it is a sad, hopeless one.

I am, however, convinced of the above quote. Love is expressed in friendship, friendship is tested in times of sad revelation. Love is tested by the faults of those nearest me - the faults that cause pain to those nearest us both. To see a loved one's faults, to know them so closely, to share those same faults, and then to press forward in hope and truth. That is what I want from this life. I want love. I want friendship. I want sad revelation to be an impetus for that. But I find I am much more apt to speak out over the stains on a friends coat or pant and leave the stains of the soul untouched. It is a sad truth to find a stain on a friend's soul and live without being able to help one bit.

I would like to be a better friend. Oh, let me love deeply enough to see the soils on my friends, let them see mine, and let us lovingly speak the painful truth.