We need more than a bellhop

The person who shuns the bitter moments of friends will be an outsider at their celebrations. (Proverbs 14:10) Walter Winchell reminds us: "A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out." Do you have this kind of a friendship with anyone? If you do, count yourself blessed; if you don't, it is high time you ask God to bless you with one! A true friend will never shun your bitter moments - they will love you through them. Yes, I said "through them" because that friend will not abandon you to your folly or your grief.

"True friendship multiplies the good in life and divides its evils. Strive to have friends, for life without friends is like life on a desert island... to find one real friend in a lifetime is good fortune; to keep him is a blessing." (Baltasar Gracian) Multiplied blessings don't come because we 'do life' alone - they come because we do life in communion with one another. God never asked or expected his kids to walk alone, so why is it we are trying so hard not to let anyone see who we really are, where our hurts and hang ups exist?

I think it could be a matter of pride - we think if others see our 'real self' they will not want to be part of our lives for very long. There is something my BFF reminds me about now and again that we all need to hear: "We all come with baggage." Baggage in the form of hurt emotions, disappointments because life didn't work out as we planned, or even the fears that hold us back from pursuing life as God desires for each of us. Regardless of who we are, how 'put together' we may seem - we all have baggage! Get over trying to hide that baggage - it actually needs to be 'unpacked', not hidden!

We all come with a variety of complex emotional 'stuff' that needs to be 'worked through', don't we? If you cannot see it, maybe someone else can and that is why we need each other. We actually help one another 'unpack' that baggage so we can finally get rid of the suitcase of emotional garbage we have been carrying around for years and years - sometimes our whole lifetime. We can give our baggage to a bellhop, but he will not unpack it. 

He carries for us for a while, but he doesn't actually help us be rid of the baggage. A friend actually helps us do more than carry the bag - they help us know when and where it should be emptied. Then they come alongside and help us sort out all the stuff we have in that bag! We don't need the baggage - we need the freedom that comes from finally uncovering what we have hidden within the recesses of those 'bags'. Just sayin!