15 YEARS LATER, A CALL FOR HELP

So, what do you do?  You know what you do.  You find out what it's all about, that's what you do.  That's the fun part.  It turns out that this time it was actually enjoyable.  It started out with an email from a trusted friend that Mr. X was looking for me.  The statement that was written was, "I need his help."  So what else is new?  Wasn't it ever thus?  Why else does someone who is calling after such a long time want if it isn't to announce the death of a mutual friend or relative?  It therefore is always an adventure to pick up the telephone and delve into the happenings that provoked the call after a long deferred contact. That's what I did.  I picked up the telephone and called the individual in question. I was not disappointed.   The story that he wove meandered through many esoteric highways, through mysterious tunnels and bifurcated itself on some of the byways that sprung up in the telling.  After a while, it got down to the nitty-gritty and that's when it became very clear that there was not a thing that I could do to alleviate the pain that had entered into my friend's life.  In fact, it became very clear that the problem that he presented was nothing but a variation on a leitmotif that continued to be strummed after all these years.  I will call him again.  The adventure provides a diversion from the hum-drum routine of life at my age.  I continue to pray for him every day.  It is the only help that I can offer and deliver.  I thank God that we are once again in touch. It is one more soothing patch on the bruises that I carry on my soul.  Amen.