Brian’s Reflection: Monday, April 11, 2011

Oh, Please Bri.....you have never bitched ????? It's time to
repent and fess up !!! I on the other hand have been an ex-
emplary example of serenity and acceptance.

Pam Dunn Rosenbluth; she was born on this date, 1950; today
is her 61st birthday


I have known my beloved friend Pam for about 40 years. I was a seminarian, age 24, and in the Order of the Holy Cross. She was 21, and worked for the Order. I could tell you the details that would prove what a challenging life she has had, but it wouldn’t be appropriate. Suffice it to say, she has been through the proverbial ringer! In spades. She has had to struggle to make it, raising her first daughter by herself.

She is one of the best “Christians” I know, by which I mean a follower of Jesus and His Gospel of Compassion. Hasn’t been to church in decades. It’s hard to have been brought up Roman Catholic and then had no support when divorce and other things came along. She knows what is right and loving and has tried her best to live it. She is generous, loyal to friends, funny (as you can tell by her sarcastic response to me, quoted above), smart, skilled, enjoys Life, is understanding, non-judgmental, and she does not evaluate except by the standard of dignity and love.

Much of Pam’s Life has been anything but serene. Depression. PMS. But she has a deep inner sense of justice, and she has a blind eye to the things that many others use to discriminate.

My Reflection today is to honour Friendship, and to honour Pam as a true Friend. And through her, all my many wonderful friends. I am thinking of Jesus saying to His followers, “I no longer call you servants, but friends”. A true Friend is one who sees you as part of them - a sister or a brother; a part of God’s family. And I am thinking of all those wise writers who have said that there is no greater treasure than a True Friend.

Happy 61st Pam! I wish for everyone who gets this Reflection that they will at one time in their Life have as wonderful a friend as you have been to me, and that they will know the great Treasure such a friend is.

Bri