Sundry Ruminations
by Very Rev. Jamin Scott David
In olden times there reigned in Persia a great monarch, Shah Abbis, who loved his people. To know them more perfectly, he used to mingle with them in various disguises. One day, disguised as a poor man, he went to the public baths and there in the tiny cellar he sat beside the fireman who tended his furnace. At mealtime he shared the coarse food and talked to the lonely fireman as a friend.
As the king visited the lowly fireman again and again, the stranger began to love his guest. One day the king revealed his true identity to the fireman, thinking his new friend would ask some gift from him; the fireman surprised the king with these words: “You left your palace and your glory to sit with me in this dark place, to eat of my coarse food, and to share my joy and sorrows. On others you may bestow rich presents, but to me you have given yourself; it only remains for me to pray that you never withdraw the gift of your friendship.”
One of the most popular modern shows that ran on television for the longest was the immensely popular sitcom Friends. Ironically, the show is a series of mindless episodes that simply portray six urban yuppies that face daily, trivial dilemmas, and it has nothing to do with friendship. Rarely in the show do you see the type of friendship that Jesus speaks of in the Scriptures or the love demonstrated by Shah Abbis – a friendship that consists of mutual affection or the destruction of barriers rooted in sacrifice for the service of others.
Love is not always felt but is expressed in deeds especially the generous surrendering of greed, envies, demands, and expectations. Always, this loving is easier to talk about than execute. It begins with being loved as a gift, and it is not earned. And this self-emptying love doesn’t come easy.
This is likely my last column in our “Pew Buddy,” and by my count, I’ve done about 572 of these. But this one is tough. Hopefully our experience together has been one filled with mutual affection and the destruction of barriers so that we fruitfully followed the call of the master to serve our brothers and sisters, truly becoming “friends” in the fullest sense; I think it has. We may have not always “felt” that type of love for one another because of our misunderstandings or because of our stubbornness of heart, but I know that your love was expressed in your generosity to me and your laying down your expectations and demands; I hope my love and friendship for you were expressed in a similar way, a self-emptying that doesn’t necessarily come easily.
I simply repeat the words of the fireman that express my true sentiments about our love and friendship: “You left your palace and your glory to sit with me in this dark place, to eat of my coarse food, and to share my joy and sorrows. On others you may bestow rich presents, but to me you have given yourself; it only remains for me to pray that you never withdraw the gift of your friendship.” I’ll miss you all and I love you, true friends who always remain with me! Don’t be a stranger; come visit, since you are my friends.
Never forget me as I will never forget you!
Love, ~Fr. Jamin
