S Has Many Supportive Friends

It was a gathering and a celebration for two causes. The atmosphere was joyous. I was contented to be invited along. I enjoyed myself. Thanks! :)

But, if we were to look to the middle front of the venue, unmistakably, S was there and he was feeling really down. Many of his peers were trying to console him. They were trying to balance the joyous mood with his seemingly “isolated” sadness. Not many knew exactly what had happened. But this is not the issue here. I was observing how the class reacted.

Some were observing from afar. I’m not saying they don’t care. They don’t know what to do. They were a little concerned that they might say or do the “wrong” thing. They carried on with their “merry-making” but are pretty aware of the incident.

WJ was more sensitive. She was quick to pick up the sad-signal emitted from S. She simply rushed to him offering him a pack of tissue paper. A simple gesture indeed, but one filled with genuine care. When her offering received no reaction, she was not deterred. She took out one tissue paper from the tissue pack and thrust a piece of tissue paper into the right hand of S. S finally grabbed lightly to receive the little tissue paper.

J sat down beside him almost throughout, not saying a lot, by with occasional words of comfort. He was there and made his presence felt. He was there to pour him a cup of cola.

ZR was with him (almost throughout) also. He was the most vocal. He was making the most “visual effort” to be encouraging. He said to him things like..
- 来啦，吃一点吧。
- 你看，看起来就知道很好吃。
- 要不要我喂你?
- 我们一人一半，感情不散。
and many more.
Frankly, if we were to listen to ZR’s encouraging words out of context, they can be rather funny, I think. Haha.. It was very much like kids’ talking. But he was doing it so sincerely that it actually appeared rather touching. He was going all out, only hoping that his friend could feel better. I think he only feels good when his friends around are feeling good. That’s ZR. :)

A little consoling thing would be towards the end of the day, S returned a simple message : “ =) ”
With so many of his friends around him, supporting him, I so believe he can get over it very soon.

He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother

I don’t think anyone would leave a friend alone when you know he is apparently feeling down. It is the little responsibility of a friend to provide an emotional uplift or whatever, I think. Friends ought to be there for each other.

Erm.. A hypothetical situation : What if we were trying so hard to cheer him up, and later only to learn that the reason that he wasn’t feeling too good was directly or indirectly because of us? Mm.. At least to me, he is still a friend. What can I do then? . . . perhaps . . . only if I'm given an apportunity to . . .

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有一位圣者这么说：

跟你们分享一个方法，当你们在做任何一件事的时候，不论这件事情你做过了没，你都要告诉自己，我今天做这件事，我一定要找到一个心得，可是我不贪求，我只要找到一个心得就够。

事后我还要把这个心得分享给我的好友知道。再有下一次，你做同样一件事，也告诉自己，我这次一定要得到一个心得，但是不能与上次一样。

借由这样的发现自己，让自己在事务上有源源不绝的动力与收获，你们就不会觉得，法喜若有若无，修行若存若亡。