reva, you're a good friend

Sometimes I wonder if I deserve the title of being a ‘good friend’. What makes someone a good person? I was just reading some letter that I’d gotta about a year ago, from friends travelling far across the ocean. Both had said that I was a good friend to them. What does that really mean? I mean, one of then said it was because I made them a personalized cake and card, and the other said that it was because I would listen when no one else would. Is it the little things that define friendship? I don’t usually think ahead to what a person’s response is going to be if I do something for them. I just think that maybe it would be nice, and that if it were someone doing it for me how I’d enjoy it as well. Trying to follow the way of living the same as Jesus did helps, but I believe that I struggle in that way more that just treating people the way that I would. But I guess that was one of His teachings as well. Seems kind of silly to me, refering to the ‘golden rule’ of do unto other.. etc, but seriously, when you think about, why wouldn’t you follow that rule. And I don’t want to get all preachy on people, cause I’m not like that. ( I mean, I’ll share if you want me to, but I’m not about to force it on anyone). But I don’t understand why people think that Jesus wasn’t all that he was cracked up to be, and don’t relaly care about what he did. If you don’t believe, put aside the fact that [I believe] He the son of God. He did teach good things. Smart things. Teaching that I think would make the world a happier place. He talks about love, and faith, and what’s really so wrong with those two things? Living with love isn’t going to hurt anyone is it? And what’s more, his teachings were so simple. It’s not a huge struggle to follow them. I believe that it’s all excellent guidance, and people who read it and throw it away because “it’s only for jesus freak” aren’t as wise as they think that they are. You don’t have to be a believer to understand that he was a loving man, and wasn’t about going against people. He just wanted to improve our lives. I also think that lots of people take the parables as made up stories, but when you read them, you can see them actually happening. These are events that can happen to everyday ordinary people. You don’t have to be hugely important, and none of them have any mystical components to them at all. They are all relevant stories. Following the guidance of these stories, I think, can help make you a better person. I guess they can help you to be a better friend as well. The funny thing, for me, is that I’m only really digging into these stories just now, and that I was labeled a good friend a while back. Maybe you don’t need the stories to improve the way you treat people, but it sure is going to help. The next time that someone tells me that I’ve been a good friend to them, I’m going to thank them, and in my head and heart, I’m going to that Jesus, cause man, You’ve been a good friend.