Reflecting

This is the time of year we show those around us how much we care, we call friends or go visit family. It's also the time of year that we reflect. We think about all that has happened throughout the year, remembering those that we lost, others that joined us, thinking about how much we accomplished or a friendship we have gained or lost. This year, I can't help but think about where I was last year...what I was doing on this very day and where I was in the world. Last year this time I was with my cousins in Kish, an island in the Persian Gulf. I was preparing to leave Iran on Christmas day and head to Sydney. I remember not wanting to leave, but being so excited to see my family in Australia. I was sad to say bye to Iran, but thankful for my time there.

I have a stack of my favorite books on my nightstand. Every so often I'll pick one up and read one of my favorite parts. Books like The Last Lecture, Rumi's Love Poems, The Prophet. Although this isn't my favorite passage from The Prophet, it's up there with the best:

"Speak to us of Friendship.

And he answered, saying:

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 the love that seeks aught 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."