Private interests

I arrived in San Francisco.  It was cloudy.  Then it rained.  "Where is the warm sun?"  I asked myself.  It had been hot the week before I came here.  A friend of mine called.  I moaned about the lousy weather.  She reminded me that there was a big fire north of me in California that had consumed over 500 homes.  This weather is good for firefighters.  I had forgotten that, conveniently.  It was all about me.  One of the important things about staying in touch with friends is that they can see the world at any moment in a more communal and compassionate way than we do left to our own mind and petty wants.  Plus, a friend will not be so harsh when we admit that we had been thinking only of ourselves.  Resentments and self-defense only build up when our ego pride takes over.  With a friend we can feel embarrassed, humble, and repentant.  God wants to be my friend not my judge and jury.