Who are my true friends? Who will help me at their expense when I'm down? Who will I help at my own expense when they are depressed?

There was a man. He was a paralytic, meaning that he couldn't move. Not even a little bit. In his society, people who grew up to be different, who had weird diseases were considered sinners. These group of people were right smack at the bottom of the social heirachy.

For this guy, all he could do was think about his next meal. 'Whats the point of thinking about anything else?' he thought. Now unlike the other 'outcasts', he had 4 true friends. They took care of him day in day out, helping him wash up, stuff like that. The parlytic always felt that he was being a burden to the guys, and was grateful for their friendship.

One day, the five of them heard that Jesus was in town, teaching the word in someone's house. So the four guys said, "lets bring him(the paralytic) to Jesus, he might be able to heal our friend"
Upon reaching the house, they found out that it was full people. There was no way in. But they persisted. These very four men dug a hole through the roof and lowered the paralytic down, with countless pairs of eyes all looking at them. Jesus look at the paralytic, then at the determination and faith of his friends, and said:"Son, your sins are forgiven. Get up, take your mat and go home". And that was what the paralytic did. He stood up, thanked the lord, and walked home.

True friends are those that think not of themselves but of the group.
They stay with their friends through thick and thin.
They are not afraid of defying the social norm.
True friends are those who look beyond the package, and look at the substance.

A rather long post, I know. But just wondering, who are my true friends, who aren't?


Now Listening to: Liu2 Shui3 Nian2 Hua2 (current bg music)
By: Harlem Yu