WithoutWax.tv by Pete Wilson | Tag Archive | friendship
Tag Archive - friendship

Loyalty Is Dead

April 18, 2012 in Relationships with 11 Comments

Have you seen this video yet?

A black Labrador retriever, that braved traffic to stay by another dog that was fatally struck by a car, has been hailed for her loyalty.

A concerned motorist, who saw the dogs on a  street in Los Angeles, California, one morning last week, put down traffic cones to alert other drivers and shot a video of the dogs.

The footage released on Saturday showed the female Labrador lying next to a motionless, yellow Labrador as vehicles pass by dangerously close to them.

This video was really moving to me.

In our culture, loyalty is dead is so many way.

One of my favorite quotes is from Tolkein when he wrote,

Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.

To so many you’re only as good as your last message, blog post, sale, decision, or performance. But every once in a while God blesses you with a friend whose just as loyal to you on the way down as they were on the way up.

Cherish them. A loyal friend is a true gift.

I’m Ashamed

May 2, 2008 in Cross Point Church, Friends, God, Leadership, Religion with 38 Comments

We live in a culture that, for the most part, divides people into two categories. People that count and people who don’t count. People who matter and people who just don’t seem to carry a ton of weight in society. I’m ashamed to admit I have created two such categories in my heart. There are times I subconsciously lump people into one category or the other.

Yesterday, I did a funeral for a 24 year-old young man at Cross Point named Todd Keeton. Todd was the 16th person in the world born with Marden-Walker syndrome. This syndrome caused Todd to deal with many physical challenges and kept his mental ability from ever increasing above a third grade level.

This was one of the most moving funerals I have ever been a part of as three of his lifelong friends, Clay, Jeremy and Josh, (all dealing with different levels of Down Syndrome) were a part of the funeral. Josh recounted many stories about his friendship with Todd and the many memories they had created. At one point, the three presented Todd’s mom, Pam, with their Boy Scout bandanna and told her how much Todd meant to them.

After the funeral I learned the boys had advanced to the Special Olympics state championship in Bocce ball. Their match was today, but they decided to forfeit the match so they could honor their friend, Todd.

After conducting the funeral I went back into my office and shut the door to process what I had just experienced. It wasn’t long before I just started to cry. I was crying because of the overwhelming shame I felt.

These young men taught me a lot today. They taught me about the power of friendship and loyalty. They taught me about the power of unconditional love. They taught me that I have a long way to go in my spiritual transformation if I really want to be more like Jesus. Because, unlike me, they don’t have two categories. To them everyone matters and everyone counts. Thank you Clay, Jeremy, and Josh for being such good friends to Todd. And thank you for modeling Jesus to me in such a powerful way.

Mark 10: 43-44 “… Whoever wants to become great among you must serve the rest of you like a servant. Whoever wants to become the first among you must serve all of you…”

Do you ever struggle with this?

Pete