Get lifted.

Last night I attended the surprise birthday dinner of one of my good friends. She's the kind of person you don't have to know very long to count among the best. We met when I worked at the corner drugstore for several months last year. Whenever she was in photo and I was at register 1, we talked (and laughed) about anything and everything.

At the dinner (which was at an aMAzing Italian restaurant - the lasagna was divine!), quite a few of the partygoers stood up to say their piece about why they find her so special. Tears leaked. But probably the most moving, inspiring, and maybe even life-changing things that were said were by Ebony herself, her boyfriend, and her father.

You know, a lot of people have given up on believing, in anything. I myself am hanging by a thread some days. But last night I realized (or, maybe, remembered) that if you fail to believe in what you truly want, then you certainly are doomed never to find it. Ebony and Joe both expressed that plenty of "friends" had told them through the years that the girl/guy they were hoping and praying for, just didn't exist. That someone whose soul already lines up perfectly with your own when you meet them, is just a pipe dream.

It was really, really fascinating, and even profound, to see literal, living witnesses to not only belief and faith, but the power of God. Both my friend and her future husband turned a deaf ear to those who would have them settle for something less, and found each other in due time. Both ignored those who are fully entrenched in a world that now trusts only irony, cynicism, sad endings, and the power of themselves - and what are we but ants in the greater universe?

Ebony's dad, you can tell just by looking at him that he's been a very wise person for a long time. You can always see it in their eyes. Anyway, I will quote the closing words of his speech and never alter or add anything to them in all the years I am sure to repeat them.

"If God is in you, then you will see God in others. If love is in you, then you will see love in others. Don't go looking for love. Love will find you."