John McCain: A friend of the heart is a treasure beyond price. I was fortunate enough to have had a few in my last time around on the planet - though sometimes one or both of us fell by the wayside here and there. But when we were able to stay the course, we carried each other in companionship and love all the days of our lives on the planet and beyond.
And yet we must recognize that such friends are not ships of state. They cannot carry the load, they can simply accompany the sailor, have their back, hold their coat, and share their tears. Each travels their own way, struggles to fulfill their own mission, and, because we cannot be god for each other, each ultimately finds what they seek in the arms of the Lord.
But we can be comrades in arms, and, take it from this old soldier, no greater gift has anyone to give than to exchange the truths of one soul with another. The loneliness of this time on the planet means nothing when struggles – and triumphs - are shared.
Look about you, my friends. Who are your true friends of the heart? Who will hear your truth, warts and all, and offer theirs in exchange? Who will acknowledge your failings with a loving heart? Who understands in the depths of their being that we do not, cannot, and should not have the answers to the most profound questions of our existence while we are confined in a finite body? And who will continue to travel through the darkness with you without receiving an answer to seal their fidelity?
These friends of the heart do not demand answers from life but find their own meaning in the connection with others who, though blind, deaf, and dumb to the riddles of the universe, can still have faith that meaning can be found in what we offer each other.
I wish you all the great happiness that is found when you find a friend of the heart and can return the favor, for this is your ladder to heaven.
October 20, 2020