NEW FRIENDS

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new.”
Revelation 21:5

NEW FRIENDS

I’ve been getting rid of paper. Boxes and boxes of paper and one of those boxes (quite a large one) contained old greeting cards and letters. Going through that box took a really long time because I didn’t just throw the contents away. I reread them and I discovered that there were some I could not get rid of. They contained personal messages that had at one time encouraged me or thanked me or just expressed affection. I was filled with warm memories of the people who had sent them.

As I read I realized that most of those messages were from people we’d known in various churches we had attended through the years. I also realized that, though they were filled with affection and encouragement, many of those messages were from Christians who, at one time or another, had been embroiled in fighting with each other. In fact, I was surprised to realize that in every group represented by those people there had, at some point, been some sort of conflict. I’ve seen conflict so serious and seemingly irreconcilable that churches have split, or individuals have left the Church altogether.

That sort of conflict is not limited to churches. We see it in families. Occasionally the conflict in a family is so extreme that brothers and sisters or parents and children have not been in contact with each other for years. It almost seems that the closer people are the more bitter the conflict can become. Why? How can that be? I think Martin Luther King gives us the answer. He said “There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love.”

Unfortunately, the deep caring that really exists between people often is not recognized. All that is seen is the current anger and/or hurt. However, in spite of appearances there is hope. Not too long ago my husband and I found ourselves in a situation in which we had to attend a function where there would be people who had hurt us deeply. We did not want to go, but there was no way out. I am so glad we went. What happened that day was beautiful. As we met those people we had dreaded to see, all those negative feelings were simply gone. We once again experienced love between us and them. I thought, “This is what heaven will be like.”

As I was going through those old cards and letters, I found some from those very people who had caused so much hurt, but instead of anger I felt only increased appreciation for them. It occurred to me that as we work out problems with others (or simply forgive them) it might help to remember that Jesus told us (Revelations 21) that he is making all things new and that those words apply as much to our relationships as to anything else. I realized that was what had happened between us and our friends; Jesus had made it all new.