Written 22 December 2001

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“You know how we always say, ‘See you later’? One thing I’ve realized from September 11 is that you can’t ever say that for sure. Things change in the blink of an eye.” Kobe Bryant, a guard for the Los Angeles Lakers, wrote those words in Newsweek magazine (December 24, 2001). Bryant added, “We never know when our time here will be over, so we all need to make the most of every minute we have.” As we leave the year 2001 and look forward to 2002, let’s be careful out there and remember: “Don’t take your friends for granted.”

David, the shepherd and king of Israel nearly 3,000 years ago, didn’t take his friends for granted. He knew the uncertainty of life. At one time, when King Saul was out to get him, David said, “There is only a step between me and death” (1 Samuel 20:3, NJB). David had a very close friend. Surprisingly, it was the son of the king who wanted David dead. The young man’s name was Jonathan. “Jonathan loved David as much as he loved himself” (1 Samuel 20:17, TEV). In a war with the Philistines, Jonathan and his father were killed. In his grief, David sang this lament: “How I weep for you, my brother Jonathan! Oh, how much I loved you” (2 Samuel 1:26, NLT).

Jesus of Nazareth didn’t take his friends for granted, either. As he ate the Passover meal with them on the night when the police later arrested him, Jesus complimented his twelve companions by saying to them, “You are the men who have stood by me faithfully in my trials” (Luke 22:28, NJB). Yes, later on, when the police arrived on the scene, they let him down. “Then all the disciples deserted him and ran away” (Matthew 26:56, NJB). When God raised Jesus from death to a new and higher level of life, a woman who had visited his grave met a young man who told her, “You must go and tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee'” (Mark 16:7). Despite everything, he still cared for them.

In one of the prayers in the Episcopal Prayer Book are these words: “Make us, we pray, deeply aware of the shortness and uncertainly of human life.” Near the cash register in many stores you will see a sign that reads, “Count your change before leaving.” As we leave the year 2001 and enter 2002, let’s count the ways that we’ve changed. I hope one way is this: “Don’t take your friends for granted.”