Making Best Friends Forever

A native American village has a tradition of sending young adults, at about twenty years old, out to the world to fulfill their vocation and return to the village to retire when they are old, maybe around sixty. Every spring, a new batch of energetic young villagers gather at the chief’s tent and receive his blessing to enter the world to make their dreams come true.

The chief gives them a piece of paper and asks them to hang it on the wall wherever they go. The young people will go to the towns and cities based on their interests and ambition. They unfold the paper and hang it on the wall. It has only two words, “Fear Not!”

The young people take their chief’s advice and bravely pursue their dreams. They have successes and failures and learn their lessons. Some make a lot of money, and some don’t. However, as instructed, they all return to their home village to retire when they are old.

Soon after they arrive at their village, they visit the chief to receive his instruction for their next phase of life. The chief gives them another piece of paper to hang on their wall. It also has two words, “Regret Not!” (End of Story.)

The moral of the story is that, when we are young, our biggest obstacle is fear. That’s why the chief reminds the young people to “Fear Not!”

However, life is complicated! When we get old, many people regret the mistakes they have made and the risk they failed to take. Consciously or unconsciously, they spend the rest of their life guilt-ridden. Since we can’t change the past, the chief charges them with two words, “Regret Not!”

The problem is, how do you regret not? It’s easier said than done. You cannot just sweep your guilts under the rug as if they had never happened. Psychologists say that suppressed memories can harm your mental and emotional health. We cannot just brush off the past.

As I am approaching sixty, sometimes I review my life and ask myself to see if I have any regret about my life. Of course, like everyone, I have done many regretful things. “To err is human!” and I am human. The good news is, as Christians, we are forgiven people, and we can live a genuine “Regret Not” life without having to sweep our guilts under the rug because Jesus has paid the price for us on the cross.

I also enjoy seeing many people among Christians who have “peace like a river, love like an ocean, and joy like a fountain.” They live a “Regret Not” life without getting haunted by their past.

In fact, if I were the chief, I would not give two pieces of paper to them but just one piece. I would give them all “Regret Not!” from the beginning because it will stimulate more profound wisdom and lift them to a higher level of consciousness. They will make better decisions.

Jesus reveals to us that our “Regret Not” life is enriched by the friends we make, particularly eternal friends—literally best friends forever. In today’s scripture lesson, Jesus shows us two ways to recover from regret—the way of the “children of this age” and the way of the “children of light.”

Children of this age make transactional friends, but children of light make transformational friends. Jesus wants us to make transformational friends that will last for eternity. They will be your true BFFs—Best Friends Forever. So, let’s begin.