LOVE! and Friendship (A Sunday Sermon)

"I love U Baby Girl!"

A dear friend and former theatre colleague posted that on my Facebook page the other day. I worked with him in Memphis in the late '80s. We only did one show together, but we became good friends and he and my mom developed a mutual admiration society for one another. The first time I saw him on stage he was playing Aslan in a production of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. He played other characters too, but his Aslan was phenomenal. I never imagined any actor being up to the role of Aslan, but my friend was. Is. I'm sure he could still do the role.

The show we did together was Studs Terkel's Working. We each had multiple roles in the production, like everyone in the cast, and while it wasn't the best theatre I ever did, it was good. The audiences liked it and the reviews were decent. I loved the show because of the cast and the themes. I remember going to my friend's apartment and playing board games and Pictionary into the wee hours. It was a wonderful experience altogether and I was sad when my friend left town. But then I did too, as that's what happens when you're a journeyman actor, so I coped.

My friend is on the west coast now. He does theatre still. Last winter he was in Orpheus Descending with the actor who played Tasha Yar in Star Trek: The Next Generation. He did an X-Files back in the day as well, a character that true fans recognize still and that tickles me because he was glorious in the part.

It's funny how relationships form sometimes. There are some theatre people I worked with that I will be perfectly content never seeing again in my life. That's normal. There are others, though, that I'd give my left tit to work with again, just because they are so gifted and I was inspired by their talent and drive and would love to feel that energy again.

I have writer friends who do that too. Oddly, I know a lot of really good poets. Yeah, I know some meh ones (no, I'm not naming names so get over it!), but then, I'm not really a poetry person. Yet I know some poets who blow my mind and that's really weird because most poetry leaves me cold.

I know some phenomenal prose writers, a few I'm deeply honored to count among my friends. These are writers who can string words together and tell me stories that leave me gasping for air because I stop breathing while I read. There aren't many writers like that, you know. So to be friends with some, and I don't just mean Facebook friends or Twitter friends, but real friends, is truly a blessing.

Friendship is a great thing. In the last few years I've reconnected with people I have never stopped loving even though we lost touch with one another for a while. Soul sisters and brothers all. Musicians. Artists. Writers. Computer geeks. Scientists. Teachers. Every one of them fascinating. Every one of them dear to my heart.

The thing I value most in my friends is our mutual acceptance of who we are. Few judgments. No harshness. Well, of course we have misunderstandings and bad days, but really, those are seldom. I try very hard to love my friends unconditionally. I'm human, so I'm not always successful, but for the most part I take them as they are. I'm not their mama or their teacher, but I'd be lying if I said I never behaved as such. I do. But I consider my main role in my friends' lives is to love them. Love is so powerful. It surpasses everything else. And the coolest thing about Love is that the more you give, the more you receive.

But it's not about the receiving, really. It's about the Love. Loving with no expectations and judgments is difficult, but if you allow yourself to practice such, you'll be much happier. It will lead you to the path of Compassion and once you find Compassion you will find Peace. The Dalai Lama taught me that at his lecture last year. I'd been reading it for a while, but it finally penetrated when I attended that magical man's talk.

So LOVE! Release your pent up resentments and self-hatred and LOVE! Find the kindness and compassion for others within yourself.

LOVE!

You'll be so much happier if you do.