"Friends by God's smile...."

Yesterday I received a brief, handwritten note in the mail. In this Internet age of email, text messaging and other forms of instant communication, what a wonderful feeling it is to see a hand-addressed envelope in the mail, amidst the bills and junk mail and advertising flyers.

As I opened the envelope and read its contents, I saw it was a response to a letter I had written recently to a former seminary professor, a man I've always thought of not only as a brilliant academic with the heart of a poet, but one of the most Christ-like men I've ever known, a living saint whose joy is infectious. In part, he wrote: "We're friends by God's smile and grace forever. I give him thanks."