The Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Linda and I received a chilling call from a dear friend here in Amarillo, her husband and our friend had committed suicide. We arrived at their home shortly after the police arrived and the horror of this tragedy stunned us. I had to go into the house so that his wife didn't have to deal with it and I'll tell you this, I will never be able to erase that visual memory from my mind. It's one of those scenes you just wish you hadn't seen. It has been a sad, sad Thanksgiving holiday for the many friends and family members devastated by this surreal event. And I lament the sadness that will now forevermore haunt his two daughters, young grandson and wife of 32 years each and every Thanksgiving holiday.

As we raced over to the house to help in this crisis, I was overwhelmed with the thought that I had somehow failed my friend. Please, understand what I'm saying: I do not blame myself nor anyone else for this awful tragedy, for I do believe that each of us is in sole custody of his or her life and actions. What bothered me was the thought, that I could have been a better friend and perhaps tried a little harder and been more aggressive in my attempts to reach my troubled friend who had spurned all attempts by his family and friends to help him. He had slowly but surely isolated himself and withdrawn into his dark depression. Career disappointments, financial problems and marital problems had overwhelmed him and he just didn't like himself anymore. I personally see suicide as sad, the fatal end result of hating oneself and at the same time I see it as the ultimate selfish act. The pain, the loss, the suffering and the guilt felt particularly by family, are difficult to describe to any who have not personally experienced such a horrifying loss.

But, back to my thoughts about friendship. I'm afraid that far too many of us just simply take each other for granted. We'll call tomorrow, we'll get together next week, and then the person we love isn't there to call, go to lunch or golf with.

James 4:13: Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. (KJV)

Carpe diem,seize the moment. No man lying on his deathbed wishes he had spent more time at the job. Life is about relationships. We must not take our families or our friends, or our brethren for granted. We shall surely one day regret it. The lament of those sage ones in the "golden years" is rarely of what they have done but rather it is a lament of what they DIDN'T do that saddens them. So make that call, send that email, go to lunch, golf, fish, do something with somebody you love.

Prov 18:24: A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. (KJV)
 Thank God for friends and family,.may we all show our love for another by being true friends.

For the Love of God,
Jeff Booth