Sunday, September 11, 2011

Kindred feelings and the beauty of a friend

Do you guys ever get the feeling, where for whatever reason, you want one friend and that one friend only with you at that very moment? To me it kind of feels like this: at that time and at that place, only that one person could do anything for you. Only that one person could make me feel better. Only that one person could talk with me and get the real story. Yeah, I really needed my one person this past week.

It's strange how that works. I wish the world knew more about feelings and instincts, and why certain people have the ability to make everything better. To a degree, it's all about security and trust. But why do we trust that person? Why do they make us feel so secure?

One of my favorite quotes comes out of a manual from a religion class I took last fall. I often don't get overtly religious on my blog, on account of how religion is a pretty personal deal to me, but even if you aren't religious, I know you've had the feeling this describes. I know you have. It's from a book called Key to the Science of Theology.

"The gift of the Holy Spirit adapts itself to all [of man's] organs or attributes. It quickens all the intellectual faculties, increases, enlarges, expands and purifies all the natural passions and affections; and adapts them, by the gift of wisdom, to their lawful use. It inspires, develops, cultivates and matures all the fine-toned sympathies, joys, tastes, kindred feelings and affections of our nature. It inspires virtue, kindness, goodness, tenderness, gentleness and charity. It develops beauty of person, form and features. It tends to health, vigor, animation and social feeling. It develops and invigorates all the faculties of the physical and intellectual man. It strengthens, invigorates, and gives tone to the nerves. In short, it is, as it were, marrow to the bone, joy to the heart, light to the eyes, music to the ears, and life to the whole being.
In the presence of such persons, one feels to enjoy the light of their countenances, as the genial rays of a sunbeam. Their very atmosphere diffuses a thrill, a warm glow of pure gladness and sympathy, to the heart and nerves of others who have kindred feelings, or sympathy of spirit."

Yes, it is long, but so very worth it. I've bolded the parts that truly apply. When you read that, can you not help but think of that one person with whom you share kindred feelings? Or maybe there are a few people you've experienced that with. It is undoubtedly someone you love, maybe you are even in love with them. But no matter who it is, they are beautiful to you. And you are beautiful to them. I'm not even talking about beauty in a physical way. I'm talking about in the way that when they speak, it's like they're speaking to you. And even if there are so many other people in the room, it can still be just the two of you. That beauty can be hard to find at first; it's often so very unexpected. But when you find it . . . They become one of the most beautiful and wonderful people in the world.

"You know when sometimes you meet someone so beautiful and then you actually talk to them and five minutes later they're as dull as a brick? Then there's other people and you meet them and you think, "Not bad; they're okay." And then you get to know them and their face sort of becomes them, like their personality is written all over it. And they just turn into something so beautiful."

That, my friends, is a quote from the television show Doctor Who, the most recent episode entitled The Girl Who Waited. (We're not going to talk about the implications of that just yet.) But The Girl, Amy, was talking about her husband, her best friend. Yes, I realize this is a fictional example and that Doctor Who is not real but does that make it any less true? I submit that it does not.

I'm quite proud to say that even before I watched that episode this afternoon, I had already started this post. Strange how it fell perfectly in line with everything I was trying to say, eh?

2 comments:

Becca said...

awwww. i love the doctor who quote. and i love this post. its totally true. love!

Sara Jolley said...

Anna! I love this post. It is wonderful and true. Thank you for always sharing such great ideas.