Healing

I went to see some old friends this weekend - some that I had not seen in about six years. I purposely drove a considerable distance to visit with them in hopes of finding a final resolution. We parted on not the best of terms back in 1999 and I have held a certain bitterness against them. When we ran into each other accidently at Easter time, I realized that I needed to talk with them and see if healing could finally come. The incident that caused this rift involved betrayal and rejection - not the characteristics of close friendship. When all this happened, I found myself at the second loneliest place I have ever experienced - second to the summer I got divorced and my mother died in the space of one month. Misery accompanied me both times. This time the grief lasted for a couple of years, then turned into another year. There was no one to talk to. I was forced to consult with the LORD only - a good thing, but I still needed to somehow make things right.

So I ventured forth on my trip, reasonably certain that after six years I was emotionally stable enough to deal with whatever might come, yet not certain how things would come out. But the visit was wonderful - we talked for six hours - one for each year of separation. The pain that I thought we would have to struggle through never materialized. It was as if we had never had any problem - only misunderstanding, and had only been separated for all those years when they moved out of state and we were finally able to visit again now that they moved back - a reunion! Wow! It was great. I was set free.

It was God. His mercy endures forever.