The Importance of Friendship

One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid
from my class was walking home from school. His name was
Kyle. It looked like he was carrying all of his books. I
thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his
books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd." I had quite
a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friend’s
tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.

As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him.
They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and
tripping him so he landed in the dirt. His glasses went
flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet
from him.

He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes my
heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him and as he
crawled around looking for his glasses, and I saw a tear in
his eye. As I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys
are jerks. They really should get lives.

"He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!" There was a big smile
on his face. It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.
I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived. As
it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never
seen him before. He said he had gone to private school before now.

I would have never hung out with a private school kid before.
We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books.
He turned out to be a pretty cool kid. I asked him if he
wanted to play a little football with my friends. He said yes.

We hung out all weekend and the more I got to know Kyle,
the more I liked him, and my friends thought the same of
him. Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge
stack of books again. I stopped him and said, "Boy, you
are going to really build some serious muscles with this
pile of books everyday!" He just laughed and handed me half
the books.

Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.
When we were seniors, we began to think about college.
Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I as going to Duke. I
knew that we would always be friends, that the miles
would never be a problem. He was going to be a doctor,
and I was going for business on a football scholarship.
Kyle was valedictorian of our class. I teased him all
the time about being a nerd. He had to prepare a speech
for graduation.

I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and
speak Graduation day, I saw Kyle. He looked great.
He was one of those guys that really found himself
during high school. He filled out and actually looked
good in glasses. He had more dates than I had and
all the girls loved him. Boy, sometimes I was jealous.
Today was one of those days.

I could see that he was nervous about his speech. So,
I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy,
you'll be great!" He looked at me with one of those
looks (the really grateful one) and smiled. "Thanks,"
he said. As he started his speech, he cleared his throat,
and began "Graduation is a time to thank those who
helped you make it through those tough years. Your
parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...
but mostly your friends...I am here to tell all of you
that being a friend to someone is the best gift you can
give them. I am going to tell you a story." I just
looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story
of the first day we met. He had planned to kill himself
over the weekend. He talked of how he had cleaned out his
locker so his Mom wouldn't have to do it later and was
carrying his stuff home. He looked hard at me and gave
me a little smile. "Thankfully, I was saved. My friend
saved me from doing the unspeakable." I heard the gasp
go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told
us all about his weakest moment.

I saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that
same grateful smile. Not until that moment did I
realize it's depth. Never underestimate the power of
your actions. With one small gesture you can change
a person's life. For better or for worse. God puts
us all in each other's lives to impact one another
in some way. Look for the Divine in others.

The possibility of stepping into a higher plane is
quite real for everyone. It requires no force or
effort or sacrifice. It involves little more than
changing our ideas about what is normal.