At the end of the day, a successful friendship will prove to involve good morals

This morning I examined my Facebook page, as I do at least once or twice a day, and I scroll through all the posts until I get to where I left off before. And let me say, I think most of my friends have priorities that are different from mine. And I think that I have given subtle, (or sometimes not so subtle) hints that I don't like what they are posting. So the question becomes, do I unfriend them? And here I have to say, when someone posts and posts and posts about their same shpeel, and nobody else can get in, I unfollow them, without unfriending them.

And I have to wonder, by the same token, are there those who are friends with me that don't always appreciate what I have to say? What I am leading to, is that in all friendships, there's a connection. I saw my mom and dad argue and argue sometimes, because one saw a situation one way, and the other saw it quite a different way. But it was important to them to get closure on whatever they were discussing. Their relationship, their thoughts on a subject, and clarifying both their thoughts, and the importance of their relationship was worth taking time over.

And so we have what our government calls "checks and balances system" at work in every friendship. We measure to what extent do we disagree with someone, how important is it to us to make what we think known, and ultimately, how valuable is the friendship?

And so, if refraining from judging people is important to us (it is very important to me), then we will be gentle with our friends if we think they are mistaken about something. If longevity in friendships is important to us (again, very important to me), then we will not quit out on a friend because of their misdeeds, whether many or few. We will go the distance. Forgiveness and forbearance, letting offenses go, letting offenses have no power over us will lead to healthy, resilient friendships.

And of course, the motor that gives friendship power, and that draws us into friendships and gives us the ability to remain friends, is LOVE.

♬   Ashton, Becker, Dente: Song of Reconciliation

State of the Union according to A True Friend

Hello friends! Well, Christmas Eve and I am doing NOTHING. I am hanging out with you guys at this point. Let me tell you all, with the shape the world is in today I think every single one of us inhabitants of the earth needs a miracle. Each one of us is in some type of situation where something has spiraled out of control, and we feel we cannot regain control of it. The sexual thing. I know you know how I feel about that. People want to go to bed with everybody they see and meet. There is this heightened sexual awareness between men and women now, and it has become more important than any other thing in most people's lives. Years ago, girls were afraid to have sex because they didn't want to get pregnant. After that, laws got passed that young girls could have access to birth control and also to abortions. Now, in this present day and age, it has come about that there is no longer any shame involved in having children out of wedlock.

This has scarred the education system. Our education system has a whole new face from what it once was. Very few people complete a proper high school program and get a high school diploma. Most commonly, kids drop out, do absolutely whatever the heck they feel like, and the result is that many end up if not in jail, then working minimum wage jobs, and the lucky ones might just make it back to get a GED and learn some kind of profitable trade. But I will say, many many people in reputable professions do not have any kind of thorough understanding of their field at all. None.

And what do we do? We have a society the whole world over that is dumber than people were 100 years ago. And nobody is even addressing any of these issues at all. My thoughts... that go through my head as I plod through these nonsensical days of my life.

Good night,
and Merry Christmas yes yes

♬   Deniece Williams: It's Gonna Take a Miracle

Christmas song downloads via A True Friend on Facebook

Hi! Since I have a few people who have liked my A True Friend Facebook page, I decided to keep my A True Friend Facebook page in the mix by offering my list of song downloads through it. So if you click facebook.com/HighPositionOfFriend you will be taken to my whole A True Friend page, and I pinned to the top the link to my Dropbox, Christmas 2014, which is a list of Christmas songs for free download. They are the same songs as what I posted here yesterday, but these are the download links. So I hope everybody has a nice holiday.

Always Your Friend,
Raya

Happy Holidays from A True Friend

Merry Christmas everybody! This year once again, I have a Christmas playlist for you. It's a slightly different collection from last year, but I think I have pulled together songs that express the basics of the Christmas season.

Here is Chris Brown's "This Christmas"




Here is Amy Grant's "Breath of Heaven"




Amy Grant again with "Tennessee Christmas"




Here's Gene Autry singing "Here Comes Santa Claus





Here's Jim Brickman and Susan Ashton doing a very special one, "The Gift"




Here's Julie Andrews singing "Joy to the World"




With the same type of loving spirit, here's Carly Simon doing "The Night Before Christmas"




Sung very tenderly, here's Kari Jobe with "O Little Town of Bethlehem/Away in a Manger"




A different angle on Christmas, but still an integral part of it for most people, Joni Mitchell singing "River"




This is the song I used for the Christmas video I shared in the blog immediately prior to this, Josh Groban with "What Child is This"




And, no Christmas goes by without hearing this one, Bing Crosby with "White Christmas"




Hope this blog is going to be functional. I am unable to check it because I am creating it in a humble little cellular. So what I think I'm going to do is, in addition to this, make a separate blog with the URLs for the song downloads. Anyways I wish everybody a nice Christmas for those who celebrate it. For those who don't, take heart in the fact that I have no incredible plans for how I'm going to spend Christmas either. I know my Dad might stop by. But I think my boyfriend is probably going out to spend Christmas with his mom and his brothers. And as far as food, on Thanksgiving they gave us nothing even remotely related to turkey, so it's anybody's guess whether they'll have a dinner for us or not.

Then, January is a bit of a difficult month for many people. Not sure exactly why. But I have read that January has the highest percentage of suicide attempts and suicides. And my suicide attempt from which I became disabled happened on January 7, 1985. Yeah. I'm old. So being aware of this I have to strongly recommend that if you have been feeling sad, and if you have been having a hard time shaking off the feeling of sadness, please try and... I don't know what to say... get help? Sometimes trying to get help, and the rotten people that are in the helping profession can push you into an even more intense state of despair. I will say then, write down your feelings. Get yourself a diary, or just a simple notebook, and write down everything are feeling. That's what I did when a boyfriend broke up with me many many years ago. I took my class notebook that I did my homework in, and I continued to do my homework, but I also wrote about what I was going through, because I felt that it was a part if me just like my homework and my assignment list and everything else I needed to write down. And it worked for me. I was able to get through a very difficult time. Later on in my life I started abusing marijuana, and the drugs were the catalyst why I had a nervous breakdown and went nuts. And that was something where my brain, sadly, will never be the same.

Anyways you have A True Friend here. And I care.

What Child is This (Josh Groban)

Have A Talk With God (Stevie Wonder)

Those of you who have read this blog from the time of its origins may recall that this blog was first intended to be a sort of refuge, a resting place for the underdog. I was reaching out to those whose lives had not gone so smoothly. I know what it feels like to have that knawing in your head that makes you dread the events of a day. I have felt like an oddball before. I have said and done some shocking things. Some offensive things. Some ridiculous things. Therefore, I am well familiar with rejection. And if you have some thoughts that, if I knew things that you have done, if I knew the way you were living, even maybe if I knew some of the things you are hoping for, then I would no longer like you. Even if it were true, yet I have this video, where God is telling you he wants to listen. As you watch this video, tap into the realization that God knows your story from beginning to end, and he wants to give you healing and change the things in your life that are upsetting you. He wants to give you the right life you dream of.

Online friends, or offline friends?

It has finally come to my attention that those who care for me the most, first of all my Dad, then Andre (my boyfriend) and his family, and very importantly, the people who give me hands on care every day here in my assisted living home, are taking a back seat in my list of priorities to my online friends. It is so easy to be the person I long to be when I am conversing with people who are not right here with me. People who I can choose the photos I will post, and delete the ones that don't look so nice. Of course, online relationships are the winners.

The greater challenge is to be A True Friend in my real life. Online, I think very carefully how I can avoid hurting or offending someone. Offline, this is not the case. Oftentimes I don't give a second thought to how my behavior measures up to what Jesus has commanded me to be and do. And these are the people who truly love me. These are the people in whose lives I am able to make much more of an impact.

I believe God would want me to first and foremost be sensitive to the people who are in my life every day. I need to be just as careful to avoid being rude to the people who are here in the building with me, as I take care not to be rude to my followers and friends on facebook and twitter and such.

It's a matter for prayer and a change in what I am the most committed to. Sometimes, when I am involved in something online that has to do with politics, it's easy to talk myself into believing that what I am doing is more important than addressing issues that demand my attention at the present moment. Untrue. There is nothing that should be more important than doing what I am being called upon to do in the immediate.

♬   The Clash: Should I Stay or Should I Go

The Love of Christ

The Love Of Christ
By Wes King

Incomparable kindness to less than the least
To the broken, the battered, and weak
To all who are hungry there comes a call
To be filled with the fullness of God
It's beyond all you can see
Farther than you would believe
It's a mystery
My prayer for you is that you would know

How wide, and how long, and how high, how deep is the love
How deep is the love of Christ

The width of two arms outstretched on a tree
The length of the road to Calvary
The height of the crown on a cruel cross
The depth of the pain is the cost
All for you, all for me
All for love did He bleed
All to set us free
My prayer for you is that you would know

How wide, and how long, and how high, how deep is the love
How deep is the love of Christ

How wide, and how long, and how high, how deep is the love
How deep is the love of Christ

How wide, and how long, and how high, how deep is the love
How deep is the love of Christ

How wide, and how long, and how high, how deep is the love
How deep is the love of Christ

How wide, and how long, and how high, how deep is the love
How deep is the love of Christ

How deep is the love

♬  Wes King: The Love of Christ

Perspective

Do you believe that time heals all wounds? Some people believe it, and some don't  If you stay positive, and really love your friends from the heart, over time, you will notice that they grow to love you back. After a while, even those who you feel deeply wronged you, you will cease to resent. Because when God is in control, "no weapon formed against you shall prosper". So although someone's words, or a situation may have bruised the course of your life, no one can prevent you from receiving the blessings God has for you. And once the blessings begin to come, you are sure to have a heart of only charity for those who once were in your life who could not understand the way of love.

I am finally coming to believe that it is possible to get my prayers answered. That it is possible for me to approach Jesus Christ in the silence of my heart, and ask for something that I want or need, and reverently anticipate that He will grant it. This is more than I could do for a very long time.

As I examine the contributions of my friends and those who I am following on my various social media sites, I see many people hurting due to broken relationships. They are often unable to fall out of love with someone who repeatedly plays 'hot and cold' with them. In other words, someone comes to him/her when they need him/her, and when they get what they want, BOOM! They hurt that person again and again. That's when seeking wholeheartedly to fall in love with Jesus is the only way that you will find the strength to purely sever the tie. Your goal should be to become indifferent to this person because what you see and prize so highly in him or her just isn't there. It is almost as if the person you are setting your sights on is an impostor. They mean and stand for something to you that just is not who they really are. Some folks think that Christ wants them to unconditionally love a person such as this. But be careful that the thought that Christ wants you to unconditionally love someone is not an excuse to avoid confronting a situation that you know is not good for you.

Believe me, the love of God is everything. God can make everything in your life as it should be. Be patient. Don't try to make miracles happen before their time. Relax, and know that God has a good life for you all mapped out.

♬  Kenny Marks: Make it Right

♬  Jonathan Butler: Falling in Love with Jesus