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Friends
and the
Fork in the Road
Opposites attract
Yet somehow I know
That even if our souls combine
Into royal purple splendor
We still one day must seperate
Into crimson and navy
Like Italian dressing seperates into
Oil and water
And no amount of shaking
Can permanently blend them together
Standing at the fork of the road
We split, our hands outstretched, fingers reaching
Where they were once joined together
A necessary divergence
But it still hurts
As I see the friend I shared my soul with
Moving in something I have no part of
In something I cannot share
As I move further up the road of my life
I can no longer see my kindred spirit
But I can still hear her joy
As my friend finds her purpose
Without me standing in her way
And I can more clearly see
That in order to be truly anointed
One must walk some roads alone.
College is truly a learning experience. It's also a friend magnet. I've made more friends in college than I ever had in life.
But lately, I've been having a problem with my friends.
I love my friends to death. I really do. I would do anything for most of them. My friends are my comforters, my counselors, my encouragers, my ATM machines (sometimes), and my . . . well, friends. They keep me sane. They give me that word that stirs my spirit when I'm depressed. They share my joy when I'm ecstatic. Through my highs and lows, my friends are always there. I can count on them for anything.
But lately, I've noticed a change.
I've come to the fork in the road. The place where two paths diverge and wander on in different directions. One way is just as good as another. You just can't take both. And in this Christian walk, if you take the wrong road, disaster strikes.
I am starting to discover that my friends cannot come with me. The things that sit right in their spirits do not sit right with mine. The paths that they are on do not coincide with mine. And no matter how hard I try to keep them on the path with me, walking side by side, I cannot ignore the split that has come between us.
It's not their fault. They have done nothing wrong. I have done nothing wrong. It's that whole Jesus thing.
"People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime." It's true. Every friend I have has taught me something. They have each enriched my life in ways that no other person has. But, there is a time to every season, and my season with them is ending.
I've come to the fork in the road. And I cannot follow my friends.
I have to leave them to follow their own destinies. I have to leave them to follow my own. But, it's hard. There are joys I cannot share with them now because they don't understand. There are sorrows I cannot cry on their shoulders because they cannot relate. I can't blame them. After all, they are on a different road.
Their path does not look like mine.
I also have to leave them for me. There is one other person on this road with me. Jesus. My best friend. My friends take my focus off of him. They steal his glory. They take his attention. They get in the way. I cannot be intimate with Jesus and still be with my friends. In this case, three is a crowd. My friend, Jesus and me. It just doesn't work.
Even Jesus had to leave his friends sometimes. He left the apostles many times during his ministry to go and pray. He went through Gethsemene experience alone. He endured the cross alone. He went through Hell alone. He fulfilled his purpose alone. His power came from his solitude, when he could commune with God without his friends.
I've come to the fork in the road, and now I have to tell my friends goodbye.
Somehow I know we'll meet again
Not sure quite where, and I don't know just when
You're in my heart, so until then
Wanna smile, wanna cry
Saying goodbye.
- The Muppets Take Manhattan
I'll see them again. It might not be until heaven. We'll laugh, and joke, and share our experiences again. And we'll all be happy. We will have gone the path meant for us.
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