A book from my beloved Friend

My love for books started when I was in high school. I remember being hooked in Nancy Drew series. I’d go to the library to borrow a book at a time, and go devour it at home and school. Nancy and I became fast friends *grin* Then I met the Hardy Boys! *wink* I fell in love with them too! *lol*

But that’s not really why I started this article. Just this morning, I was scanning things on my cabinet and I found this little book. It was a gift on one of my birthdays. What really touched me is the dedication by the sisters who gave me this nice book. I suddenly missed Sallie!

Sallie Rojas was one of my best friends way back elementary. When we met again during our youth, we became even closer. Inah easily became one of my close friends too. It was so sad that they had to go to the province and we had to part ways. Just this year, Inah and I bumped into each other once again after several years without any communication. It was so nice to see her again. I hope she gets the chance to read this one…

“Prayers for a Listening Heart” by Paul Castley… What’s so special with this book? It is a healing and soothing book about people who have stories to tell, and the people who listen to them. Browsing back, I found several highlighted lines I’d like to share with you now, and I quote them below…

1. If we have a compassionate heart and an ability to listen we’ll have a lot of the sorrows of the world poured out upon us. This will stir up all sorts of feelings within us. We needn’t be afraid of the fact that these feelings are there. We’ll be standing before God in our truth. Share them with God. Slowly, God’s word will come to us like the dawn from the East. If we don’t face our feelings and deal with them, they’ll burn us out.

2. Christ’s shoulders are strong enough to bear our anger. Tell God how you feel. That’s prayer. That’s communication. You can make decisions to use it wisely and well. Befriend anger and make it an instrument of love, not destruction. Stand close to others in their anger and hear the cry of pain behind it.

3. God is alive and well; and at work. We need to remind ourselves of that. Open our eyes to the lovely things that are happening.

4. In other situations it’s our own negative disposition that takes over. In times like this, take time to gaze at the crucifixion and let it touch us. Then we can follow Jesus to his resurrection and find hope and power to work for change.

5. Enable people to live through their pain. Let the heart pour out what’s bursting it with pain. The golden rule is “I’m not here to say, I’m here to listen.” Just listen and encourage others to express themselves.
6. We are convinced of it in our minds, but there are hidden depths of our being where we haven’t yet experienced that resurrection. It’s no good denying feelings of despair and hopelessness are there. We need to turn our focus onto the risen Christ.

7. There’s a need to celebrate our delight in our successes. It’s not conceit. If we can touch into our hearts at these times we’ll notice a contentment that’s worth enjoying. And it may be good to share our delight with someone.

As I go reminiscing, these wonderful teachings really remind me of my dear Sally. She had so much to share and yet she was gone so young. I just content myself with the thought that she is now face to face with God. I love you, Sally! You are gone but never forgotten!