The Friend

We welcome a new writer:
Vivienne Teloive

He spent most of the night holding me. I would ask him to let me go so I could die and he held on tighter.

I would tell him that the world would be better off without me, and he asked me if I had asked the world.

I said I was a drain on my friends, he asked me if I had asked them.

I said the pain was too much, he reminded me that I survived before.

He reminded me to breathe. He didn't leave me alone. He held on, helped me to hold on. He held me till I fell asleep.

Is this what God does?

Is this what friends do?

Psalm 118:17 (New International Version)
17 I will not die but live,
and will proclaim what the LORD has done.

Jeremiah 29:11 (New International Version)
11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD,
"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.


Comments

Susan said…
Wow, what a powerful bit of writing... I am comforted by these words somewhere deeper than I've ever quite realized there was pain before... Thankyou, Vivienne. Please keep writing!
10:36 PM
Anonymous said…
:) aww! thanks so much, susan! :) you know, when i wrote this, i didn't expect much of it. i thought that the words would only ever be heard and/or understood by one maybe two people. i guess it's sort of like practicing a musical instrument - a musician practices for hours before they can share something with others. i'm so happy to be able to share this with you. :) and i will definitely keep writing. :) thanks for your comment. :)
10:54 PM
Joyful Fox said…
Vivienne,

A beautiful tribute to your "Friend". This speaks of such deep intimacy with our Heavenly Father - a gift to all who read it.

Thanks for sharing these words from your heart.
11:38 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Voyage

Image
Note from Belinda: I read this prayer yesterday and again today--and then I read it to Susan after cell group, when we were having our "second cup" of decaff coffee together. I knew that she'd love it. She has a framed picture on her office wall of a little blond haired girl in a sail boat on a stormy sea. A fatherly sailor,with a weather beaten face; in a gray sou'wester, holds her close, as he capably mans the tiller. This prayer reminds me of that picture and influenced what I wrote earlier today, when I used the metaphor of ebbing waves to describe a lack of consistency and my desire to crash over the sandbar into the peaceful pool on the other side.  ( Susan sent me a link to the painting, which was done by American impressionist Robert Reid in 1888.  It hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in NYC.) Be bless ed by the beauty of this prayer. OH LORD OF THE OCEANS, My little bark sails on a restless sea, Grant that Jesus may sit at the
Read more

Ere Zij God--Glory to God in the Highest! A Dutch Carol

Image
By Belinda This beautiful Dutch carol was shared today by a friend of Dutch ancestry, on Facebook. I had never heard it before but absolutely loved it. It moved me deeply, especially at the end after the crowd leaves the church and then breaks into spontaneous singing again around a brazier, with the sound of chiming church bells in the background. Listen to it with headphones or a good speaker to get the full effect of the harmonies. And happy first Sunday in Advent!
Read more

Samson Beaver and his Family

Image
I first posted this in 2009, a little show and tell about one of my favourite photographs. Back then it hung on a wall, but now it's in my bathroom where I see it every morning! I'd forgotten the history behind the story, researched when I first posted this and thought that current readers might enjoy it--a story from a time when this land was still being discovered, not so very long ago. This photograph was taken by Mary Schaffer; artist, photographer, writer and naturalist, in 1907. It is of a Stoney Indian named Samson Beaver, with his wife Leah and daughter, Frances Louise. I bought the photo on a postcard, on a trip to British Columbia and it hangs framed, on the wall I face when sitting at my laptop. I love it. Don't you just feel as if you could gather Frances Louise up in your arms and cuddle her? I get a deep sense of peace and happiness when I look at this family, sitting in the grass of a long ago fall. They are dressed in their best, beautiful c
Read more