Friday Night Lessons

This past year I have had mostly good Friday nights,

few of them bad, if at all.

That is good, for beginners.

I cannot recall many bad ones.

This past Friday night I spent it eating and visiting with mostly septuagenarians,

And maybe even more octogenarians.

For those without extensive English vocabularies, that means

Old People. Seniors. Citizens that are up there.

And still very much alive. And witty.

At least two served in Vietnam.

In the post pandemic times, that is rarer and rarer.

I thanked them for their service, and thought about places that are free,

Like Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia.

That is good, can we agree?

Shortly after this sharing time I met more seniors with a son who has a wife from Indonesia, 

They have children, healthy and sound.

That is good.

A lesson for me, anyway.

Coincidences.

There have been 51 other Friday nights this past year, for me.

Some of them included bidding farewell to my wife and children,

For many months.

Others were going to military chow halls, and later relaxing.

Talking with battle buddies in the barracks.

Reading a book, or playing chess.

Writing in a blog, or reading from the vast Internet.

Some Friday nights I may have watched a show, or a game.

But not most of them.

I may have gone to a library on base, and taken a nap.

Or, I attended a fine Shabbos service, and ate and drank with friends from the

Searing summer of Kuwait to the cooler, darker Shabbat dusks,

For those without extensive Hebrew vocabularies, like me, that means

Friday around or after sun down.

Dusk.

My favorite time of day.

Friday is like the dusk of the week, if you think about it.

Fridays are good.

Mine were, this last year.

Some Friday nights, I might think about the Arabic that I had been exposed to,

that morning at the mosque

The Friday sermon, of my friend.

How to value women, our mothers and our sisters and wives.

Our daughters.

I thought about them all.

Living and dead, they are all great blessings to me.

That is good, for finishers.

This past year has been good to me, not to all.

Some Friday nights we sat in hospitals.

Some were spent praying and mourning for those sick and dying

Some Friday evenings we spent lamenting our losses and missed opportunities.

But, most 

Friday nights

Were very good, very refreshing.

I cannot recall 

Any bad ones.

And I am alive, and I have my health.

Next Friday night should be good, I am confident to say,

I, we, are blessed. Do we not learn?

To contemplate God, and His people, and his languages, and delights,

Share food, a cook like Renee, or Jon, or the ones from India and Bangladesh.

A line full of food, full of drinks, 

Endless options, endless blessings.

These are some of my lessons from the last year of Friday nights.

I remain grateful.