August 3rd, 2024

The first time the Provances had dinner with my wife and me we retired to my study after the meal. I read aloud a story called “Beautiful Dreamer,” by Arthur Gordon, in which he told of encountering the generosity of friendship in a most unexpected place. The symbol of that generosity was a battered old music box that played only one tune—Stephen Foster’s haunting melody, “Beautiful Dreamer.”

Three years later, Keith presented me with a music box that played that tune and a letter in which he wrote: “Three years ago your friendship dawned a new era in my life. May this small gift, which is a symbol of its beginning, become a treasured possession as your friendship has become to me.”

“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.”

— Proverbs 17:17 (NIV)

Lord Jesus help me to become a friend like that. Amen.