I spent the day in New York City. Did you say New York City? Yep, N.Y.C. I flew back from Belgium yesterday to take my Family Practice Boards tomorrow (Saturday the 17th for those of you so inclined to pray!). Anyway, I flew in yesterday to give myself two nights of sleep to try to adjust back to 6 time zones. But, not wanting to waste an opportunity to take in some sights, I spent the day visiting around Manhattan.
I started the day with a short 25 minute jog up 7th past Times Square and then over to 5th avenue. I showered, grabbed a bite of breakfast at Starbucks and started my tour. I ended up taking the subway down to Staten Island Ferry just to ride across and back so I could see the Statue of Liberty and the Financial District from the water. After that journey, I went over and caught a walking tour of the Wall Street area - that was very interesting. I then caught the subway up to Grand Central Station and met up with a friend who recently moved here. At that point it was supper time and I caught a bus down to Little Italy and found a place to get some Open Fire cooked Pizza.
While there, I looked down the street and recognized the restaraunt that my former business partner and I ate with our two sons when we visited NYC last summer. It brought back a bunch of good memories. I so enjoyed the moment of eating outside looking at the other cafe that I called my friend and told him where I was. We spent the time remembering the trip last year and catching up on current news with each other. I am glad I called.
And it got me to thinking about how special friends are. I mean, here I was in a city of over 7 million folks, with thousands of other tourists, and while I was eating by myself, I wanted to share the moment with someone who would appreciate the setting of the moment.
God is good to give us friends. He even tells us in Proverbs that "there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." We can not understand that text unless we know the beauty of friendship. Neither can we understand the Last Supper unless we grasp the depth of friendship that Jesus shared with men around the table. And neither can we agree with the hymnist who writes, "What a Friend we have in Jesus". He is our God, our King, our Saviour, our Brother, and our Friend.
So thank God for your close friends. They not only help us process, endure, and enjoy the present day, but they help us to understand the community of the Trinity and the relationship that we can enjoy with Jesus our Friend.
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