Friendship

This was the sunset taken from our front door last night.  Nature never ceases to amaze me.  It was truly spectacular turning the whole of the front of our home pink and then crimson.  Even on the darkest day (and yesterday really was gloomy and dark) joy can still be found in little things, things that we should never take for granted, things that can lift our spirits and touch our souls.

Monday was not a good day for us, it was the day Pip returned home. Tears were shed again but Mike and I were both so touched with the dignity that had been accorded him and included was even a condolence card.  Had he been human he could not have been treated better.  So, that puts a kind of closure on things now although we miss him and always will.  He was the best dog we ever owned and we have had a few.  He was very special and will always remain so.

I have been reading again "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran and wanted to share with you today his writing on friendship.  I have often found great consolation in this book and you have all been such a great comfort to us that I think it fitting to share this with you today.

ON FRIENDSHIP

And a youth said, "Speak to us of Friendship."

Your friend is your needs answered.

He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving.

And he is your board and your fireside.

For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace.

When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the "nay" in your own mind, nor do you withhold the "ay."

And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart;

For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unacclaimed.

When you part from your friend, you grieve not;

For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain.

And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit.

For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own mystery is not love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable is caught.

And let your best be for your friend.

If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him know its flood also.

For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill?

Seek him always with hours to live.

For it is his to fill your need, but not your emptiness.

And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.

For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.

~ Kahlil Gibran

THROUGH A DOG'S EYES