To Stephen Minister

I thought I was done. I thought I didn't need our meeting times anymore. I thought the chapter featuring you had ended. But then I got to talk with you for a few minutes a couple weeks ago, and I realized I was missing something. I was missing the chance to have a friend. And it was my own fault.

I've lost friends when groups have sputtered into nonexistence. I've lost friends when people forget to make space for others in their busy worlds. But this time, I was the one who walked off into the sunset. I never looked back. I never intended to. I thought you were a crutch, and in my stubbornness, I insisted to myself that I no longer needed that crutch. And when I walk away, it's for real.

So your email today caught me by surprise. I was starting to wish there was a way back. I was wondering if I had managed to not burn that bridge. And there you were, saying Let's meet. You said you'd get creative to make room. And all I can think is Really? For me? This is certainly an undeserved grace and, at the moment, an overwhelming one. A grace to which the only possible response is gratitude.