long-time friendship

On Saturday I attended a book reading at the Valley Unitarian Universalist church. My friend, Jan Christian, read from her recently published book, "No Brother Left Behind: a sister's war memoir." The book is a rich tapestry that weaves Jan's childhood memories together with stories of her brother, Bobby's, military service in Vietnam and his death as recounted by the Marines who served with him. The book stands alone - it was reason enough to attend the reading. I recommend it. And that was not why I went.

As Jan began to read I let the sound of her voice settle into my ears and then my soul. The waves of remembering washed over me leaving treasures behind in the sand. Her voice took me back to my first seminary class, History of Christianity, with Lynn Euzenas, where Jan and Terry Sims had more fun than was allowed and kept us all laughing with their brilliant wit. She was reading, "It was my mother who answered the door around dusk on an April evening in 1969. She took one look at the two men there and said,'It's Bobby.'" The other track of my mind was hearing an antiphon echoing a line from Rumi that she quoted in one of her sermons in Joe Webb's preaching class, "Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,there is a field. I will meet you there." As she introduced us to the men of Kilo Company in her photos, my memory called the roll of our seminary friends and each name opened a vignet of shared fun, sorrow, listening and talking, hard work, passion and a deep sense of purpose. Again Jan's voice drew me back to the book, then again her voice drew me home to a time when nothing was certain except that we were called. To be bathed in the sounds of a friend's voice was a sacred baptism naming and claiming me, bringing me home.

I'm not finished with the book... nor the friendship.