Your Reboot is Strengthened by Great Friendships - #2

But Ruth said, “Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die— there will I be buried. May the Lord do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!”

INTRODUCTION

OF ALL THE SONGS SHE EVER SANG, THE OUTSTANDING DIONNE WARWICK , WILL BE CHERISHED, REMEMBERED

AND CELEBRATED ALWAYS FOR FAMOUSLY SINGING THESE WORDS:

And I never thought I'd feel this way

And as far as I'm concerned

I'm glad I got the chance to say

That I do believe I love you

And if I should ever go away

Well, then close your eyes and try

To feel the way we do today

And then if you can remember

Keep smilin', keep shinin'

Knowing you can always count on me for sure

That's what friends are for

For good times and bad times

I'll be on your side forever more

That's what friends are for

IT WAS THE Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher CICERO WHO GAVE US THIS TRIED AND TRUE MAXIM

ON FRIENDSHIP THAT ENDURES FOR ALL AGES:

FRIENDSHIP ADDS A BRIGHTER RADIANCE TO PROSPERITY AND LIGHTENS THE BURDEN OF ADVERSITY BY

DIVIDING IT AND SHARING IT.....

SURELY HIS WAS NOT JUST AN ENCOURAGEMENT BUT A WONDERFUL TEST TO THOSE WHO KNOW THAT TO HAVE

A FRIEND WE’VE GOT TO BE A FRIEND....AMEN? ARE WE SHARING NOT JUST THE FUN AND PROSPERITY OUR

FRIENDS ENCOUNTER IN THEIR LIVES.....ARE WE ALSO DIVIDING AND SHARING IN THEIR ADVERSITIES TOO? AMEN?

AN ANONYMOUS WRITER GAVE US THIS BEAUTIFUL TRUISM.... “REAL FRIENDS DON’T CARE IF YOUR SOCKS DON’T

MATCH....”

AND IT IS PROVERBS 18:24 THAT REMINDS US:

Proverbs 18:24 (NRSV)

Some friends play at friendship

but a true friend sticks closer than one’s nearest kin.

AND IT WAS THE OUTSTANDING WRITER ALICE WALKER WHO ADDED:

“No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow.” ― Alice Walker

FRIENDS, IT TURNS OUT, BELOVEDS ARE GOD’S LIFE PRESERVERS.........AND GOD’S VERY PRESENCE ITSELF IS A LIFE

PRESERVER THAT KEEPS THE SOUL FROM SINKING INTO A SEA OF TROUBLE...........

RUTH AND NAOMI’S MIGHTY BOND

SURELY GOD WAS WITH RUTH AND NAOMI AS THEIR BONDS OF FRIENDSHIP DEEPENED......

The BOOK OF RUTH begins with disaster—there is a famine in the land—leading to dislocation as “a certain man …

and his wife and two sons” leave their home in Bethlehem, cross a river and a border, and seek refuge in a foreign

country.....THAT MAN ELEMELECH, WIFE NAOMI & THEIR SONS, MAHLON & CHILION.......

News reports and photos of contemporary villages, countries and peoples fleeing from famine, INSURRECTION,

POVERTY & OTHER PERILOUS SITUATIONS —perhaps the experiences of our own families or neighbors—make clear

the desperation that propels them.

The Ruth text does not indicate how long there had been a famine........BUT AS IT OPENS UP ABOUT THE

RELATIONSHIP OF RUTH AND NAOMI WE HEAR, FEEL AND SENSE THE LANGUAGE OF COVENANT PROMISE

BETWEEN RUTH AND NAOMI......

“WHERE YOU WILL GO…I WILL GO....WHERE YOU LODGE.....I WILL LODGE...”

THIS IS FRIENDSHIP OF THE HIGHEST ORDER AND AS WE CONTINUE TO WRESTLE WITH THE CHALLENGES OF THIS

NEW YEAR WITH AN AIM TOWARDS THRIVING IN THE LIGHT OF OUR TENDER AND ALMIGHTY GOD......LET US

RECOMMIT TO ALL THAT WILL HELP OUR FRIENDSHIPS FLOURISH THIS YEAR.......

THE MAYO CLINIC’S WISE ADVICE

Good friends are good for your health. Friends can help you celebrate good times and provide support

during bad times. Friends prevent isolation and loneliness and give you a chance to offer needed

companionship, too. Friends can also:

Increase your sense of belonging and purpose

Boost your happiness and reduce your stress

Improve your self-confidence and self-worth

Help you cope with traumas, such as divorce, serious illness, job loss or the death of a loved one

Encourage you to change or avoid unhealthy lifestyle habits, such as excessive drinking or lack of exercise

Friends also play a significant role in promoting your overall health. Adults with strong social connections

have a reduced risk of many significant health problems, including depression, high blood pressure and an

unhealthy body mass index (BMI). In fact, studies have found that older adults who have meaningful

relationships and social support are likely to live longer than their peers with fewer connections.

THE SAME MAYO CLINIC STAFFERS THAT WROTE ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF FRIENDSHIP FOR ADULTS NOTED THAT

IN SPITE OF ALL ITS BENEFITS, Many adults find it hard to develop new friendships or keep up existing friendships.

Friendships may take a back seat to other priorities

RUTH AND NAOMI SHOW US THAT A BOND CLAIMED EVEN UNTO DEATH..... “WHERE YOU DIE I WILL DIE.....”

AND THROUGH THE UNKNOWN DAYS THEY FACED IN FOREIGN LANDS....IN FORGING NEW BEGINNINGS AND NEW

RELATIONSHIPS....IN DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES AND EVEN BOUTS WITH FINANCIAL STRESS AND STRAIN..... THEIR

FRIENDSHIP PERSEVERED.........

CONCLUSION

I CLOSE WITH THE INSPIRING STORY OF TWO MEN WHO WERE INSPIRED BY AND UNIQUELY SUPPORTIVE OF ONE

ANOTHER....TWO MEN WHO BECAME GREAT FRIENDS AND MADE HISTORY TOGETHER........THIS KING DAY WEEKEND

IT IS MY PRIVILEGE TO TELL THE STORY OF REV DR MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. AND RABBI ABRAHAM JOSHUA

HESCHEL.........

Heschel met Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at a conference in 1963. They became kindred spirits and fellow travelers,

often speaking together on civil and human rights issues. Their deep mutual commitment to equal rights for all was

rooted in social consciousness and religious fervor. They supported each other's causes, as demonstrated at a

conference in November 1963, when they spoke at the United Synagogue of America's Golden Jubilee Convention

in New York. Dr. King said about his commitment to fighting the oppression of Jews in the Soviet Union. “Injustice

anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We cannot ignore the plight of our brothers and sisters, who happened

to be Jews in Soviet Russia.”

Heschel responded to King's urging and joined the voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery. He was so

spiritually inspired that he was quoted as having said that he "feels as if his legs were praying as he walked next to

King" and “I felt a sense of holy in what I was doing."

Their admiration was mutual. As King remarked, "Rabbi Heschel is a person who is relevant at all times, always

standing with prophetic insights.”

The bond between the two men was clearly visible when Dr. King was chosen to be a guest speaker at the sixtieth

birthday celebration for Heschel. Just a scant ten days later, Dr. King was assassinated, and Rabbi Heschel

delivered a eulogy at the funeral. It was a sad ending to a fruitful and productive relationship.

AND YET, I WOULDN’T NOT CALL THEIR BOND AND ENDING A SAD ONE......THEIR COMMITMENT SOUNDED VERY

MUCH LIKE THE COVENANT COMMITMENT OF NAOMI AND RUTH.....EVEN UNTIL DEATH......

WHEN YOU LOOK OVER YOUR LIFE IN THE WEEK AHEAD, PRAISE GOD FOR THE FRIENDSHIPS THAT HAVE ENDURED,

THANK GOD AGAIN FOR THE ONES WHO HAVE MEANT SO MUCH TO YOU OVER THE YEARS.....AND HONOR GOD IF

YOU HAVE THE CHANCE TO DEEPEN THE BONDS IN 2023 WITH THE FRIENDS YOU HAVE NOW.........

REMEMBERING AND LIVING OUT THE CHINESE PROVERB THAT SAYS:

TO ATTRACT GOOD FORTUNE, SPEND A NEW PENNY ON AN OLD FRIEND, SHARE AN OLD PLEASURE WITH A

NEW FRIEND AND LIFT UP THE HEART OF A TRUE FRIEND BY WRITING THEIR NAME ON THE WINGS OF A

DRAGON.......

IT IS TRUE BELOVEDS, WE CANNOT MAKE THE REBOOT FOR THE NEW YEAR WITHOUT THE ALMIGHTY.......MAY IT

ALSO BE A BLESSING TO YOU AS YOU STRENGTHEN YOUR NEW YEAR’S REBOOT SHOULDER TO SHOULDER WITH A