There's A Lesson Here Somewhere

Tonight's little adventure was anything but little or an adventure. It was a roller coaster ride of emotions. When things like this happen, it always makes me think. Am I being a light that is shining in the darkness? As a Christian, we are called to be in the world but not of the world. We are to be a light in the darkness. When people see me, do they see Christ in how I act? In what I say? Do they see Him in how I carry myself? Not only do I ask these questions pertaining to my belief but I also wonder about what my friends think of me. When they get to know me, do they know or understand that I will be there for them? If they need a shoulder to cry on or someone to just listen to them when they need to rant. The main questions that I'm really wondering about is, am I the one doing the influence or are they influencing me? If it's both, then which one is greater?


I love and care for my friends. I try not to judge or make assumptions. Some friends know more about me than others and I know that it is the same way with them too. We all have different opinions and different point of views. We all grew up differently and have had different experiences. The topic of experience may be the same but the perspective we see it as is entirely different. As a friend, I try to understand and I try to see it from their perspective. I may not always understand nor will I know the full extent, but I believe what matters is that I try. I try to be accepting of who they are and what they have gone through. It can be hard with certain people but, I believe that as long as I try and keep an open mind, I might see something I didn't before.

I'll be honest, tonight really shook me up. It made me think back to my sophomore year of high school. Someone I knew had committed suicide. I didn't know that it was going to happen and from what I know from other people's perspective, they didn't know it was going to happen either. His death completely obliterated what little innocent view I had of the world. There was just so much pain and so much sorrow, that I didn't think that anyone would actually be able to bounce back from it. He's been gone for 4 years and well, we've mourned and we've move on. We have our memories of him, the good and the bad. We keep him alive by remembering him.

Tonight's little roller coaster ride was definitely my lesson to learn and I'm sure that this is a lesson that I will always learn over and over and over again. The love I have for my friends is great, whatever we have gone through or if we have grown distant. If they come to me for help or I see them in need, I will come, I will go and I will help. If can't do it by myself, then I will ask others to help me to help them. Like I mentioned, my love for my friends is great. But, there is a catch. With my love there needs to be trust. If you trust me then I hope that I can do the same and trust you. Just like a famous quote, "With great power, comes with great responsibility" there is some responsibility with this trust. Trust can be easily broken and it's hard to build back up.

There are some things that people do take seriously, some more so than others. Their experiences are from their own perspective. They can tell us all they want but for those of us who weren't there or haven't experienced it, our challenge is to understand and accept it. What I take seriously is death and suicide and the promises that people make me.

So, what exactly is the lesson I learned? I learned that like a Gryffindor or is like a Hufflepuff that I can wear my heart on my sleeve? I actually don't really know yet, except there's a fable that just keeps running through my mind. Aesop's fable of The Boy Who Cried Wolf. I'm sure we know the story and what the lesson is. Just in case you need a recap..

There once was a shepherd boy who was bored as he sat on the hillside watching the village sheep. To amuse himself he took a great breath and sang out, "Wolf! Wolf! The Wolf is chasing the sheep!"
The villagers came running up the hill to help the boy drive the wolf away. But when they arrived at the top of the hill, they found no wolf. The boy laughed at the sight of their angry faces.
"Don't cry 'wolf', shepherd boy," said the villagers, "when there's no wolf!" They went grumbling back down the hill.
Later, the boy sang out again, "Wolf! Wolf! The wolf is chasing the sheep!" To his naughty delight, he watched the villagers run up the hill to help him drive the wolf away.
When the villagers saw no wolf they sternly said, "Save your frightened song for when there is really something wrong! Don't cry 'wolf' when there is NO wolf!"
But the boy just grinned and watched them go grumbling down the hill once more.
Later, he saw a REAL wolf prowling about his flock. Alarmed, he leaped to his feet and sang out as loudly as he could, "Wolf! Wolf!"
But the villagers thought he was trying to fool them again, and so they didn't come.
At sunset, everyone wondered why the shepherd boy hadn't returned to the village with their sheep. They went up the hill to find the boy. They found him weeping.
"There really was a wolf here! The flock has scattered! I cried out, "Wolf!" Why didn't you come?"
An old man tried to comfort the boy as they walked back to the village.
"We'll help you look for the lost sheep in the morning," he said, putting his arm around the youth, "Nobody believes a liar...even when he is telling the truth!"