"Goodbye, Best Friend!"

 My husband was archivist for the Archdiocese of New Orleans for about 20 years.  His last boss during that time was Monsignor Crosby W. Kern, Rector of St. Louis Cathedral, a man loved by most and hated by a few.  Msgr. Kern could charm the socks off a rooster, in the words of a good friend, but he could also be brash, angry, and impatient when he needed something done.  

During one of a number of overseas trips my husband took with Msgr. Kern to oversee publication of a new book, the two of them found themselves one afternoon in Strasbourg, France, with a few hours to themselves.  The two of them wandered down to the beautiful river which splits Strasbourg in two, and there found a bench by the side of the river.  According to the story Msgr. Kern told me later, the two of them sat without saying a word for close to an hour, just taking in the scenery and the activity around them.  The reason Msgr. Kern told me about this incident was that, according to him, he had never before been so still in someone's company for so long in such peace and contentment, without saying a word.  It seemed to me that he considered this brief moment the highlight of the trip.

Some years later, when Crosby Kern was dying of cancer, my husband and I visited him briefly while in New Orleans.  We had no idea how soon he was to die, but as we were leaving, his last words to my husband were, "Goodbye, Best Friend!"  Within a few days, he passed away.

The remembrance of this story came to me last night, as I lay awake for awhile in the Presence of Jesus, saying not a word but just resting in the peace and joy He brings.  I felt it totally unnecessary to say anything; it was enough just to be with Him, and I thought about the wisdom of Msgr. Kern's last words--we can be that comfortable saying nothing only to a best friend.  No need to fill the silence, to chat about events, to explain what we are thinking --- just knowing that your friend needs nothing from you but is content to be in your presence and to enjoy with you the world around you.

Often we think that prayer is saying something, making an effort to contact God, to let Him know our concerns, etc., and indeed prayer can be all of that and more.  But there are rare times when His Presence is enough, when we have no need to say anything, but just to smile and enjoy Him.  Granted, these are probably rare moments, but we can reach for them.  A priest in Medjugore once told me, "What we do for God is very interesting, but what God does for us --- well, that's the whole story!" 

 That certainly can be said of prayer:  our prayers are probably very interesting, more or less, but the whole story is not what is said, but what is communicated in the silence and comfort of being in the presence of a good Friend, the Best Friend.

Actually, Psalm 131 says it perfectly:

My heart is not proud, O Lord,/ my eyes are not haughty;

I do not concern myself with great matters/ or with things too wonderful for me.

But I have stilled and quieted my soul;/ like a weaned child with its mother,

like a weaned child is my soul within me. 

This is the peace that passes all understanding!