A FRIEND IN NEED

The saying “A friend in need, is a friend indeed,” implies that sometimes a person is more of a friend when they need something from you. I must write this to set the record straight, because I have a pair of friends who are friends no matter what the circumstance.

My friends are Wanda and Tony Sarro. I may have changed their names, then again, I may not have. Only I, and they if they read this, know. Maybe they will sound like someone you know. If so, you have been blessed by good people.

Wanda and Tony are the kind of people who never just talked about doing, they did. They have taken in children who needed homes. They have given to others when they, themselves, had little to give. If I were to find fault with them, is would be to say they carried a monumental amount of debt through the years, but not spent on themselves, but rather others.

This couple spent little on themselves. All they had was used to give their children and others a better life. When their own times changed, they found ways to survive, and still managed to find a way to help others.

However, times have changed drastically. Their health has slowly declined and so has their ability to give. That seems to be what bothers them most. Not that their lives are held by a tenuous thread. No, they still think of others first.

For a while it seemed the two were taking turn in the hospital, but in recent years, both of them have suffered many health issues. As their home seems to deteriorate, it seems more like a race, of which will give to the strain first, their house or their physical bodies.

As I write, they are both in the hospital at the same time. Both direly ill. This is no short trip, rather a lengthy stay. All the while, they keep smiles on their faces, though one who knows them can see the strain in their eyes.

So, what can one do to help, when we are all feeling the pain of a tumultuous economy? In my case, I turn to writing. It is what I do best. I write, hoping anyone who has friends like these, will remember their needs and look for any way they can help. Even a small bit of help may seem like a fortune to someone hitting the lowest time of their lives. And perhaps, the least you can do is pray, because in reality, praying is the very best anyone can give.

For those of you who are blessed to have family and friends who are doing well, I am happy for you.

However, if you have a little, even if it is even a few cents to send a card, I ask you to remember this kind couple. You can send it to: Pottstown Memorial Medical Center, 1600 High Street, Pottstown, PA 19464. ATTENTION: Wanda and Tony Sarro.

Yes, it is their real name. I would not do a discredit to such a wonderful couple as to give them a phony name.

Thank you all!

JUDGING OTHERS

The other day I heard two older women talking about things they have seen that morning. The first one told a story about how she was walking down the street and saw a man dressed in filthy clothes sitting on a door stoop. His hair was a mass of knots and dirt and he smelled so bad she thought about crossing the street. She hurried her step, ignoring the cup he held out.

“I know he wanted me to give him money,” she said in disgust. “Imagine, too lazy to work and so disgusting he probably couldn’t have gotten a job doing anything except maybe working at a sewer plant.”

“I went to Walmart the other day,” her friend told her. “You should have seen the woman standing in line in front of me.”

She went on to tell that the woman wore a part of shorts that shouldn’t have even been called shorts. She said the woman looked more like she was wearing a bathing suit.

“I turned to the woman behind me and asked her what she thought,” the elderly woman continued her tale. “She didn’t know what I meant until I motioned to the woman dressed in such a disgusting way. The woman behind me just rolled her eyes, agreeing with me that it was totally out of place to dress like that in public.”

The Bible says that we should Judge not lest you be judged. It continues to say, For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

Thinking of that verse from Matthew 7, I pictured those women sitting on a scale. They sat on one side and after each thing they said, a counter-weight was removed from the opposite scale. As they dropped lower and lower, my thoughts suddenly changed.

Suddenly I was the person on the scale. Though I try very hard not to, at times I think or say unkind things about people. I couldn’t help but think of all the times I’d judged other people by their looks., the more I thought about this the more counter-weights were removed, until finally I touched bottom, like a child on a seesaw with no one on the other side.

Then I watched as the scene changed. I was on the scale and Jesus climbed into the other side. Not only was I equal with him, I was raised higher and higher until I realized I was getting closer to God’s Kingdom.

So, it is with the case of the two women. It is also the case for the unfortunate people they were talking about.

We all have the chance to balance our scales because of Jesus. And because of Him we have the chance to rise higher and higher until we are raised to His Heavenly Kingdom.