A Man I Know

There’s a man I know who’s also my friend

One of the dearest I’ve had since God knows when

He reminds me of dad and somewhat of me

I hope to be like both of them equally

He has a good heart and he is unafraid

To look at his life and call a spade a spade

And to look at me and do the same

Sometimes things he says are epic in scope

Like a lifeline thrown or a spiritual rope

That reaches into the struggles I face

And reminds me of both God’s correction and grace

I’ve placed him in precarious positions at times

When not taking or calling for a needed lifeline

Amazingly he’s still a friend of mine

I can’t find the words to say how much he means

Even when I’ve made him face difficult things

That leave him in the place of being God’s hammer

In my life—which is not a position of glamour

Nor is it a position that he likes to fill

But one he handles with grace and skill

Even if it’s against his will

I’m grateful for his willingness—saddened by the need

That would not have come if I had emptied

Myself of my self and given not taken

But the time is now here that I have awakened

And my friend as God’s hammer helped that to be

Where it goes from here? God knows and we’ll see

My friend was an excellent friend to me

For letting him down and driving him there

I can’t find the words, as a friend he is rare

I’m sorry feels weak, for so heartfelt a friend

But I am and I pray that what’s broken will mend

This man I know is a mentor to me

And as a friend most faithful is he

And as close to what God intended true man to be

As I may ever see