Encouragements

“Today my girlfriend calls me John. She’s so boring. Just like the rest of them. Encouragement is wasted on this one. She’s distracted by typical worldly events; Go to work. Come home. Work out. Eat. Read. Go to bed. Next day, repeat. On weekends, we hit the bars at night and spend the days hungover. She focuses her attention on material things and how other people observe her, oblivious to any good deeds she could do. I’m a check mark on her list of things to have like her home, her possessions, etc., yet she has no clue who I am. And all of which she posts on facebook so everyone can see how great she is. She’s meaningless, completely serving nobody but herself. How great for the world, right? No light to shine and no difference to be made. A rat in a cage. Right and wise in her own eyes. I just manage to keep things at bay as the years roll by.”

“This one guy I sponsored in AA ten years ago, called me Henry. He was on the right track, but after about two years taking time to meet with him and encouraging him, he went back to the bottle. We talked a lot about his job and how he felt trapped. I can’t go back to college, he would say. I agreed and sympathized with him that it would mean more debt and life was too short to start over again. He was encouraged stay where he was. His wife also was a big issue for him. He told me she grew bitter from his drinking and even though he was taking steps to correct things, she wouldn’t forgive him and just held on to her hate. She turned out to be worse for him than his drinking! I encouraged him to stay with her and work things out since his church does not condone divorce and to confide in me whenever there was an issue they couldn’t solve. His wife confided in me as well and after a few months she was encouraged to be a more strong and confident woman. She believed she deserved better and shouldn’t take any treatment like this, especially from a man. They eventually divorced. She’s unmarried and shacked up with someone else while he’s back on the bottle. The biggest part of this mess are their two innocent children now in foster care. Those kids now harbor seeds of hate that could take over and ruin their precious lives one day.”

“One of the funniest names I had was in the 70s. I had this one guy so interested in me while at a disco that he just would not leave me alone. I told him my name was Lindsey and if you buy me a drink we can see where things go. Man, the lust in this guy was fierce. I don’t need to go into any details, but he went down a hard path. I just heard about five years ago he died of aids. From what they tell me he turned to drugs and multiple partners. He tried to settle down and love one person, but lust overpowered him. His appetite was never satisfied.”

“One guy called me Seth. He was a coworker of mine when working at a Jazz Club, and he was an angry man. Murphy’s Law seemed to have it out for this guy. After four years by his side encouraging him to oversee how the world was dealing him a bad hand, his heart just kept hardening and hardening until his cynicism took over his thoughts completely.  Timing was everything for this guy, the bottom fell out of every situation when encouraging him to look at his glass being half full. Now the guy doesn’t trust anyone or anything. Living in fear and hate, all his does is point out the negative in everything. He darkens any light that comes his way.”

"Jose, one of my favorite friends, called me Javier. I encouraged him the best I knew how. This guy lost his hope. He had a job he cared less about while trying to make a career as a musician. He tried off and on writing songs, forming bands, and playing gigs for years, but no one really took notice or kindly encouraged him. His home life was a trial on its own. He had a wife that would nag him on not doing enough for her no matter how much he would do. And worse she would flirt with other men and even form emotional connections to men outside of their marriage. She even told him he would never satisfy her physically compared to a one-night-stand she had in college, which crushed him. I explained that it was not his fault. I told him that a one night stand has a level of excitement and danger of just pure physical lust, which will then make any physical connection within the boundaries of a proper relationship seem less satisfying. I encouraged him to move past it and focus on the good things because there was nothing he could do to remove that stain on his relationship. Two weeks later I got the call that he committed suicide. It was so sudden I was shocked."

“So many names, and so many friends I have come to know and try to encourage. It is hard to fathom that I have been called a prince at one point, and get this, even a lord. Looking back on it all now, I have to say time flies the older you get. As cliché as that is to say, it’s true. But I still have many years ahead of me with many new names to look forward to and new friends to meet. I can’t wait to meet all of you in due time, in fact it will be my pleasure. I will most likely present myself to you with a name you will consider common place, but if you recognize me please do not hesitate to honor me with my original name, Lucifer. See you soon!”