A True Friend

During one's lifetime, one meets various people who come and go. Some are friends for a short time; some for longer periods of time. In rare instances, one finds a lifetime friend. A true friend is hard to come by, particularly as one moves into mid-life. A true friend is definitely a rare gift from God. I met one such person a little more than two years ago when I traveled to Lebanon the first time. Actually, my daughter, Laura, became friends with two young men a few years older than she is, Charbel Jerdi and Youssef Bou Abdo. At the time, I was pleased with her new friendships because I never felt as if I had to worry about her in this foreign country, roaming around all hours of the night with these new friends. They were polite, very kind, and extremely faith-filled young men. They spent many hours with a group of young people from the parish in the two weeks that we were there.

We kept in touch often after that visit, through phone and e-mail. They both stayed in contact with Laura and me. I visited Lebanon two additional times, once with Laura and again by myself. The third time, I spent a lot of time with Charbel and we grew to be very close friends. We shared a lot of conversations and shared our love for Karim, whom Charbel had taken under his wing even before the story of Karim became public. Charbel and I share a very deep love for handicapped and elderly people.

The other thing that Charbel and I have in common is our deep love of Jesus, Mary and the Catholic faith. Charbel is one of the most saintly men I know. The love of Jesus radiates from this young man. In my heart I believe he may have a vocation to the priesthood, but, God has not made that clear to him as of yet. He does not have a mean bone in his body. And nearly everyone in his city loves him because of his great love for others.

I speak regularly with Charbel because we have much to share with each other about faith and we have helped each other through difficult times in our lives. He waits for my call or to speak on the computer and we often talk for two hours in the middle of the night in Lebanon. He gives up his sleep so that he can talk because it's sometimes the only time we can both be available at the same time. I think of how in the Book of Proverbs the Scriptures speak so highly of the value of a good friend. And I thank God for gifting me with my friend, Charbel, 6,000 miles away, yet right here in my heart always.