Old Roots, New Flowers

            An old friend wrote an email to me and said this: I think I finally understand why we have gone through a drastic change in friendships in the last few years...He began to share some things he learned from lessons from sages like the Dalai Lama and another spiritual teacher he reads. 

            I get it... As we grow, we attract different energy to our lives. People change at different times. When our energies don't match, it's a wrong fit for both people. It doesn't serve either person to stay in the relationship. They go away; new people come into our lives. New flowers bloom from old roots--your roots.

            It's never more apparent than when you are revisiting your old life. I am visiting a friend of 18 years, who has walked through so much of my life with me and has been there with all the old friends. He still has contact with most of the old friends who I don't talk to anymore. We don't understand the chasm between the friends. My old friend doesn't want to get in the middle, and I don't blame him. 

            But today I came to a place I didn't realize that was in my heart. I actually miss the old friends. I wouldn't be mourning them, if I didn't miss them. It's a deep loss for me, like a death. Maybe I need to have a funeral for all the friends who have passed in my life and have moved on. It wouldn't be a bad idea. Just Bless them and ask God to carry them to wherever they need to be without me for however long that needs to be... or forever. 

            It's always good for our souls to get real and ask for God's help. Sundays are a time that just happens naturally. I need to get it all off my chest before I go to Dollywood and ride that new roller coaster and scream my lungs out. I'm ready, Jesus!

            Maybe I'll burn a picture of some long, lost friends and throw the ashes from the coaster...