Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who wrote The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, also penned a lesser known work called Youth and Age. Written shortly before his death he reflects on his past and laments the passing of years and its physical effects. He wrote, for example:Nought cared this body for wind or weather, when youth and I lived in it together…

Isn’t that the way it is when you’re young? Bring it on! Wind, rain, hail, sleet, freezing snow or blistering sun. It doesn’t matter because you think you are invincible. But then, as you grow older, you discover what Coleridge eventually realized.

Friendship is a sheltering tree…

Think of friendship as a sheltering tree with deep roots and leafy branches that spread themselves around us and shield us from the summer blasts of adversity and the winter winds of loneliness. The only trouble is giant, sheltering trees don’t grow over night. They need to be planted and watered, rooted and established over many years and even decades.

No one understood this better than the Apostle Paul as he neared the end of his own life. In 2 Timothy he writes to his old, yet young friend, Timothy, his sheltering tree, and pleads for him to “come before winter.” See you on Sunday.