Once Again...

One step in the door and it was like being home.  Had I not known these people all my life????  Sure seemed like I have.

This comes as no surprise to many of you I am sure.  You have traveled distances to meet your on line friends to find with the first smile, the first great hug, this was not a new friend but a friend whom you had already given a large part of your heart.  It seems like this continues to happen with each friend I meet in person.  They are special on line. When you meet you find they are even more special.  I find myself so comfortable... it seems as though we have been together for years and it is very easy to talk with them (a few might wish I weren't as comfortable and wouldn't talk quite as much)   It is great to listen too... to hear their voice and to learn even more about them.

It has been noticed, I am sure.... these people are here for you in times of stress and sorrow as well as happy and fun times.  Here.... ready to love and let you know you are not alone.  They can bring a smile to your heart and laughter to your lips when you think you have neither left in you.
If you had told me  some years back I would have a family spread all over the world... I might have thought you were somewhat delusional.  What little I knew!

How I pray I can be the kind of friend to each of you others have been to me here.

We have a great Multiply Family... My Family here is starting to see the love and wonder of my Multiply Family.  (There was a time when they thought anyone you met from the internet only had mugging or murder on their mind in person).

Could anyone ask for more???  I don't think so....  I think you all are the greatest...  It makes me happy to see you interact lovingly with each other.... to laugh freely... to bring out the best in each other.   The feeling which the love and friendship brings is indescribable.
Each of you have been so kind to me even when I hid out... thank you and after spending the last weekend with several of our Multiply Family.... I came away feeling more sure of how blessed we all are to have each other.  How I love you and pray for much love and happiness for each of you...  Thank you for being there and thanks for being you!!!

A Very Human Thing To Do

A VERY HUMAN THING TO DO

Someone made the statement: "To err is dysfunctional, to forgive
co-dependent." Sometimes I think I operate that way - afraid to err
and slow to forgive.

Of course, we've all heard Alexander Pope's famous assertion that to
err is human, to forgive, divine. But I don't agree. I think that to
forgive is one of the most human things we can do.

A number of years ago, Hildegard Goss-Mayr of the "International
Fellowship of Reconciliation" told this true story. In the midst of
tragic fighting in Lebanon in the 1970s, a Christian seminary
student was walking from one village to the next when he was
ambushed by an armed Druze guerrilla fighter. The Druze ordered his
captive down a mountain trail where he was to be shot.

But an amazing thing happened. The seminarian, who had received
military training, was able to surprise his captor and disarm him.
Now, the table was turned, and it was the Druze who was ordered down
the trail.

As they walked, however, the student of theology began to reflect on
what was happening. Recalling the words of his scripture, "Love your
enemies," "do good to those who hate you," "turn the other cheek,"
he found he could go no farther. He threw the gun into the bushes,
told the Druze he was free to go and turned back up the hill.

Minutes later, he heard footsteps running behind him as he walked.
"Is this the end after all?" he wondered. Perhaps the young man had
retrieved his weapon and meant to finish him off. But he continued
on, never glancing back, until his enemy reached him, only to grab
him in an embrace and pour out thanks for sparing his life.

That was a very human thing he did - foregoing the impulse to strike
back. It took a strong spirit. Yet every time we decide not to get
back at somebody who hurts us, we exercise one of our greatest
powers - the power to choose a better way.

Somebody else put it better than I can: "Life is too short for drama
and petty things, so, kiss slowly, laugh insanely, love truly and
forgive quickly." It's one of the most powerful and human things to
do.

  ~Steve Goodier
~Your Life Support