Dear Friends,
Those who know me well, know that
I love country music, real country, or classic country as it is better known. I
love Johnny, and Randy, and Willie, and Merle and Waylon and George Jones and
the like. A few months ago, I called out to my good friend Alexa, and
said “Alexa, play me some Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson,” and she did. And
while I know most every song that Willie and Merle ever sang; I didn’t know the
one she played. I listened as my old friends musically reminisced about what it
means to be “unfair weather” friends which happens to be the title of the song.
In that song two of country's
greatest musical troubadours beautifully define the meaning of friendship. Read
and listen to their words.
“I might wind up stuck out on
some old forgotten highway
Somehow you'll show up and sure enough be ‘goin' my way
You're always there, right where you've always been
My come whatever, unfair weather friend
I don't have to wonder where'll you be if I should need you
All I have to do is close my eyes and I can see you
Always there, right where you've always been
Sometimes this whole world is my worst enemy
And I know where to run when it gets to me
No one else but you can make it all make sense
My come whatever, unfair weather friend”
Jean and I have accumulated a lot
of friends over the years, and we are so how grateful for every one of them. I
remember the time we sat down over Christmas a few years ago and took time to
re-read a huge stack of cards and letters that we had received during a period
when we were both recovering from cancer surgeries. During that time, we again
savored every line of love and encouragement expressed within those
letters from so many of our “unfair weather” friends. We were once
again reminded of the fact that friends can be wonderful medicine for the soul.
One is lucky to have friends, but
one is especially blessed to have “unfair weather” friends who, as one writer
expressed it, “will step in when the whole world steps out.” These are
the kind of friends who will show up on your doorstep at the time you need them
the most.
One of the greatest “unfair
weather” friends in the Bible was Onesiphorous, a little-known friend of the
Apostle Paul. Onesiphorous visited Paul while in prison and who “refreshed him
and was not ashamed of his chains” (2 Tim 1:16). Onesiphorous certainly lived
up to his name which meant “bringing profit,” and he did just that for Paul.
Onesiphorous left his family in Ephesus and traveled a great distance to
Rome, spending two months encouraging Paul while he was imprisoned. He expended
his time and money and risked his own life to make the long arduous journey to
bring food, clothing, and money to assist his “unfair weather” friend.
To possess an “unfair weather
friend like Onesiphorous is a wonderful treasure.
Proverbs 17:17 reminds us that “a
friend loves at all times,” and this is the perfect description of an “unfair
weather” friend.
Today let’s thank God for the “unfair
weather” friends in our life who have “loved us at all times,” and let’s in
turn recommit ourselves to loving others in the same way- “at all times.” Why
not drop a note or make a call to one of your “unfair weather” friends and let
them know how much you love and appreciate them? And while doing that, why not
begin to cultivate some new “unfair weather” friends whom you love and who will
love you in return. If you do, one day they may be able to you as one friend
said to another: “To be your friend is to possess a great gift.”
Yours in faith and friendship,
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