Tuesday, 1Jan'13: 1/364
Stayed up to watch on TV the ball come down in Times Square. Heard there were 50 tons of confetti and stuff that the street cleaners in NYC had to pick up after the party. Hope they all had a good time.
Though short on sleep, ye olde body did it’s usual wake up before dawn. A welcome time. Warmer in the family room with the fireplace, I did the usual lighting of a candle and sat in the quiet, thinking about, praying into this new day, new year. Deep peace permeated the moments, which began to inform these hours.
A friend, from up in the foothills, invited me to breakfast on the far west side to think about some of his near future. We had not had a good conversation in some months, so it was a welcome way to step into 2013. The rest of the day has been a series of welcomed quiet moments with added warm conversation with my precious wife.
The friend, whom I admire for his creativity and courage in the life work he and his wife have chosen, making a huge difference in our world among the very poor, and I first met several years ago on a trip out of country. Little did we know we had traveled to that country on the same plane. Neither of us knew who all was going to show up for a very important look at some significant work among the very poor.
I saw him and thought, “There’s a grumpy soul.” He saw me and opined to himself, “I sure hope that old man is not who I have to spend time with the next 5 days.” So much for wrong opinions. lol
We ended up in the same van, headed for the same hotel, to participate with the same group. By day two of touring around this country we were claiming the very back of the van to keep having a long, in depth, vibrant conversation on how we were willing to choose to live radically what we believe to be true about our belief systems.
All first judgments aside (wrong to the max, may I confess), a special friendship was begun that continues. It was a delight today to renew and reaffirm what began in the back of those wild rides on rutted roads in a foreign land. If I had, or he had, stuck to our preconceptions, we would not have enjoyed today, or promised days in the future.
A renewed lesson for this first day of this new year: don’t allow first impressions, or even third or seventeenth ones, to dictate what I will do with the potential of friendship. Be much wiser in how and who I judge in any form or fashion.
What about your own preconceptions of others,
should you even slightly have them?
Sitting in the front of fireplace with candle lighting while reminisce something will looks great, it is a better and a comfortable way.
Posted by: Fireplace Heater | January 04, 2013 at 05:39 AM