Friendships Are Forever
A teacher one day asked her students to list the names of their classmates on two sheets of paper and to leave a space between each name. Then she told them to think of the good things they could say about each other, to write them down and give the papers to her at the end of their lesson. At home the teacher wrote the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper and listed what the others had said about this person.
The next day she gave a copy of this list to her students. It didn’t take long until the entire class was smiling and whispers could be heard like: ‘Really?’, ‘I never knew that I meant anything to anyone.’, and ‘I didn’t know others liked me so much.’ The papers were never mentioned in class again, so the teacher had no idea whether her students had discussed them with each other or anyone else. This didn’t matter to her because the purpose of the exercise had been that her students should feel happier about themselves and each other. This mission had been accomplished and after a while the students moved on in any case.
Several years later, one of them by the name of Mark was killed in a car crash and the teacher was invited to his funeral. The young man looked very handsome in his coffin and the church was packed with his friends. One by one they walked past the deceased and the teacher was last in line. As she stood and blessed him one more time, one of the pallbearers came up to her and asked: ‘Were you Mark’s maths teacher?’ When she nodded, the man replied: ‘He talked about you a lot.’
After the funeral most of Mark’s former classmates went for a meal together. His parents were waiting to have a word with the teacher. ‘We want to show you something,’ the father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket. ‘This was found on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognise it.’ Carefully he removed two well worn pieces of notebook paper which the teacher recognised as the list of the good things Mark’s classmates had said about him many years ago.
‘Thank you so much for doing that,’ the mother said. ‘As you can see, Mark treasured his list.’ His former classmates had gathered around and were listening. One of them said: ‘I too still have my list. I keep it in the top drawer of my desk at home and have a look at it whenever I feel down.’ One of the wives of her former students stepped forward with: ‘My husband asked me to put his list into our wedding album.’ ‘I also have mine,’ another former student said: ‘I keep it in my diary.’
A woman reached into her handbag. Pulling her rather frazzled looking list out to show to the group, she said: ‘I always carry it with me. I everybody has kept their list. In moments of weakness and self-doubt I look at mine and it gives me a warm feeling inside to know that so many people thought of me so well. They are my friends and will always love them. I do believe there is an afterlife and each time I think of Mark, I sense that nothing has changed between us and that he still loves us as much as we love him. The words made the teacher cry and she felt she was weeping as much for Mark as for everyone who would never be able to see him again in this world.
The pace of life these days is so fast that we are in constant danger of forgetting that inevitably our Earth life has to end one day. Nobody knows when that will be for any one of us. Why not make a point of every so often telling the people you love and of whom you think highly how special and important they are to you. Do this before it’s too late and they have passed onto the other side of the veil of consciousness that separates Earth life from the world of light, our true home.
Friendships are not merely gifts for one lifetime, they can last forever – if that’s what we want them to be and take good care of them. Aquarius is the sign of friendship and kinship with all life and the times we are living in are all about these themes. That is why friendships are becoming of ever greater importance. Even the smallest efforts in this respect are never wasted, because all our friendships – new and old ones – will accompany us into all subsequent ones. We are quite literally taking them with us into Eternity. And even if someone has already crossed the bridge into the world of light, it is not too late to send them our love and blessings. The spirits and souls there are in as much need of them as anywhere – maybe even more so. Some of them come to my mind, in particular family members with whom it was impossible, for one reason or another, to make peace while they still dwelled with us on this plane.
Focussing on that which is good and positive in people is a wonderful aid to building solid and lasting friendships. It creates an appreciation for each other that is based on love and goodwill. That is the best foundation for keeping friendships going, while criticism very easily destroys them. When I find out someone’s Sun sign, I find it much easier to be tolerant towards their foibles and idiosyncrasies because I realise that when people are stilled ‘ruled by the Stars’ they just cannot help the irritating and annoying things they are doing. See the link at the end of this article.
To illustrate this with an example, one of my friends is a Sun Virgo, an Earth sign, with his Sun in the first house, the natural domain of Aries, a Fire sign. True to his Virgo approach to life he loves nit-picking and looking for flaws in everything that comes his way. Because he is frequently unable to see the wood for the trees, he blurts out the first thing that comes to him, instead of getting his mind into gear before speaking. In addition to these negative characteristics of his Sun sign, he also displays a collection of the Arian ones, the house position of his Sun. He very rapidly jumps to conclusions – the wrong ones, more often than not – and loves shooting first and asking the questions, if any, afterwards. Through this he usually misses the point I am trying to make completely. On top of all these things he is always on the lookout for someone to cross swords with – Aries again.
Being familiar with his birthchart, I know that he just cannot help himself, because he really is still ruled by the stars. What this means you can find out by following the link at the end. My knowledge enables me to smile to myself when he launches one of his attacks, rather than getting angry and annoyed. Then I forgive him and still think of him as my friend, which I certainly am.
For those who are interested in self-mastery, the ultimate goal of our earthly education, astrology can be a wonderful lifehelp that provides pointers about the negative traits of their earthly nature. Becoming aware of them puts the tool into their hands for working on rising above and overcoming them. By studying my interpretations of the Sun signs for any of your friends, with a bit of practice you will soon be able to recognise how much of their behaviour is part of their main life’s lessons, revealed by the sign and house position of our Sun sign. Reading my notes about your own Sun sign will go a long way towards overcoming your troublesome habits and characteristics. Take a look at the links below and find out for yourself how through a better understanding of your friends your connection with them can become much more smoothly running.
Recommended Reading:
• ‘Astro Files – The Sun Signs’
• ‘Ruled By The Stars’
• ‘Be Your Own Astrologer’
• ‘Healing Prayer For Parents And Children’
* * *
The above is part of ‘Words & Prayers For Healing Friendships’
If you would like some more support, please follow the link below:
‘Words & Prayers For Friendship Healing’
