I can’t say she’s my oldest friend, because she’s younger than I. But we go back further than pretty much all my friends, so in that way she my oldest friend. I was a basket case today, and particles of my soul were oozing out of the basket. God arranged the day so that I had an unexpected hour to be at home, and on the spur of the moment, I called my oldest friend.

She listened and commented and asked questions and for several rare seconds, there was even silence, just because it was comfortable and there wasn’t anything to say. She gave me perspective because she knows me well enough and can see my life in its wider spectrum than I can when I’m in the middle of things. She can connect the dots for me because she’s seen so many of my dots, and she lets me feel that I’m not a toad.

It was the swiftest 50 min. of the day. I cried, and laughed/howled and advised her in turn. The serendipity phone call was the best thing I did the whole busy day. The basket holes aren’t leaking so badly now.

The rest of the day, I sang to myself my current favourite hymn. For weeks now, it has fed me day in and day out. I sing to myself, plus keep the words close so that I can see them often:

O Jesus, grant me hope and comfort,
O let me ne’er in sorrow pine,
My heart and soul, yea, all my being,
O Jesus, trust alone in Thee.
Thou Prince of Peace,
Thou Pearl from heaven,
True God, true Man,
My Morning Star!
O come, Thou precious Sun most radiant,
Thy beams illumine my heart and soul.

O Jesus, with Thy advent quiet
My restless soul and anxious mind.
In true humility I welcome Thee,
Jesus Christ, my Joy divine.
My thoughts, desires, and all my longings
I dedicate, O Christ to Thee.
O come, Thou precious Sun most radiant,
Thy beams illumine my heart and soul.
–Johann Franck