Friday of Week 7 in Ordinary Time (Year I)
Ecclesiasticus 6:5-17 | Psalm 118(119):12,16,18,27,34-35 | Mark 10:1-12
Today’s reading goes on at length about what makes a good friend, and I’ve had cause during the past two days to dwell on this very subject.
Yesterday, I met my old friend and business partner for lunch, over which we debated all kinds of stuff from artificial hearts to combat aircraft. If you sat in on one of our conversations, I think you’d get lost fairly quickly, as we’ve done this for literal decades.
Then we got down to work, and we rapidly ended up in “adversarial” mode, each challenging the other’s assertions about how best to solve a particular problem. If you sat in on that, you’d probably think blood was about to be spilled on both sides. We deliberately put our friendship on the line every day, because we’ve both agreed that this was the surest route to the most bulletproof deliverables.
Rinse and repeat six days a week – Sundays are for the Lord, after all.
✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞
My meeting with an ex-colleague the day before…wasn’t as productive.
I’d been a consultant for his firm before, and helped him develop a software product almost 15 years ago, that is still being marketed today (though much-modified and under new management). He was therefore very familiar with my technical abilities, and occasionally called on me to advise his team on deep technical matters.
What he wanted me to help with this time, thought, was beyond even my “vaunted” abilities. In a nutshell, he was caught between a government tender and a European software partner who had serious problems delivering on their agreement. We talked for a long time, before coming to the conclusion that the only things I could do for him…would all violate his partner’s intellectual property, and expose me to legal and financial retribution.
But if I didn’t help out, his company was in grave danger of having liquidated damages imposed, despite their best efforts to deliver on their contract. That would cripple the company, and force him to wind it up and let his employees go.
Though the proper course of action was clear, it was still really hard to tell him “no”.
✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞
In contrast, the Lord has always been a true friend, always ready to listen to my woes, and point the right way forward. I just haven’t always been in a listening or talking mood, but I’m working on paying more attention to Him in my daily life.
As one King sang long ago about another King:
He is always there, hearing every prayer
Faithful and true
Walking by our side, in His love we hide
All the day through
When you get discouraged
Just remember what to do
Reach out to Jesus
He’s reaching out to you
Amen.