Lobby of The Houstonian
This is the lobby of the Hermitage Hotel
taken with my spiffy iPhone
taken with my spiffy iPhone
I spent last weekend in Nashville with Colonel Doner. Last month we connected in Houston. Anyone who knows Colonel knows that great food, libations and hilarity abounded.
Colonel is an amazing man: masterful CEO of Children’s Hunger Relief Fund, Uber fundraiser, author, bon vivant. Two of the things that I most admire about him are his insatiable hunger to grow as a human, and the depth of his love for others.
I have never met another person who is more intellectually inquisitive than Colonel. No matter where we travel, he has a suitcase filled with books on history, economics, philosophy, psychology, theology and science. He is no dilettante, however. His pursuit is always about seeking wisdom and understanding that will serve him on his Quest to know God and to become the man he was created to become.
Most intellectuals I know live in their heads, rarely having deep, meaningful relationships. I have known Colonel for over 20 years and can honestly say no one could have a better friend than him. For me, he is the consummate example of God’s command to love others as you love yourself. I wonder if the reason God winks at how much he loves himself is because he bestows this same great love on others!
No one has stuck with me through more disasters and debacles. As many of these were self-induced, I cannot even begin to explain how deeply grateful I am for his friendship. While he can kick ass faster and with more force than anyone I have ever known—other than my father, that is—he just as quickly and forcefully offers his care and support. Throwing friends either off of the bus or under the bus is not in his DNA.
Actually, one of the only things that will keep you at arm’s distance from Colonel is a lack of self- awareness. He doesn’t mind your character flaws and such, just as long as you are aware of them and are seeking to better yourself. If you try to make your excrement smell like roses, you won’t get too far with him.
The older I become, the more deeply I am aware of how valuable our friends are. At my age, it is extremely difficult to make new friends. People’s lives are already filled with children, grandchildren, work and many other friends. Add my extreme introversion to the mix and, man-o-man, am I grateful for the friends I do have.
Don’t take your friends for granted.
Don’t allow familiarity to breed a laziness that allows the relationship to gradually degenerate into "distant acquaintances."
Cherish your friends. Invest in them.
Be the sort of friend you wish to have in your life.
And pray that God gifts you with a “Colonel”(if he already hasn’t): a friend who believes the best, ever hopes for your best, and readily endures the strangeness, foibles, and the idiosyncrasies that make you the unique individual that you are.
Copyright, Monte E Wilson, 2009
1 comment:
Lucky you and lucky me. I have not known Colonel as a friend to the same degree as you; however, I say amen to what you have written and cudos for writing it.
Bruce Dayman
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