wise friend profile #1:

name: laura-fil brown

length of acquaintance: 2.67ish years; about 1.75ish years of really talking

location: lethbridge, alberta

telling quotes:
1: it's entirely unreasonable to expect people who aren't Jesus-followers to strive toward becoming more Christ-like (i.e. not sinning). i mean, how ludicrous would it be for me to expect my father (not artsy) to think and act more like an artist, despite the fact that he has not shown any desire to assume that as his identity? if, however, he had decided to become an artist but was not producing any work, visiting galleries, studying art history or reading about contemporary art theories and ideas...i think, based on a loving relationship, it would be totally appropriate for me to be like, "hey pops, what the cheese do you think you're doing?! you should really consider getting your act together!" except probably not phrased in exactly that manner. that would just be weird.

2: her royal majesty and i went to dinner at a beautiful italian cafe [coco pazzo] and ate absolutely marvelous meals and a marvelous desert and then [more marvelous!] the waitress came and told us that the couple who had been sitting at the table across from ours had paid for our meals. i do not kid you when i say i nearly cried. cuz i did. things like that make me glad to be human.

my conversion: (she knows this) two years ago-ish, thinking about conversing with fil inspired heart palpitations for me. simply had no clue how to communicate with her. not sure what happened then - assume supernatural (if not extra-terrestrial) intervention. today she is not only uber-dear to me, but my constant tutor in a wide range of good things: really loving people (no, really), really loving God (no, really), the difference between maturing and aging, what to be angry about and what to let slide. i get the impression, too, that she doesn't realize how wise she is. she's prolly not tutoring me on purpose, which works out well, since i couldn't afford to pay her anyway.

my conclusion: fil is wise. wisdom isn't cold and detached - it's passionate, reflective, delicate, strong, and beautiful. like fil.