CHARLOTTE – On Tuesday, I received the following email from my friend, “I wanted to apologize. I think I may have misunderstood something in our conversation last week about the mom and daughter I talked to you about. I thought you said I could have the mom call you to talk about it before her daughter called the admissions line. So I gave her your number and told her to call you and to let you know that she was the one I had told you about. The mother said she talked to you yesterday. I’m so sorry if I gave her incorrect instructions. I hope you’ll forgive me. Please let me know if there’s anything I can do about that. My sincerest apologies for that.

I was speechless for a number of reasons. I had forgotten my commitment to be available to her friend. But more importantly, she followed the exact outline from Scripture when you are in conflict with someone else. It begins with, “If you have something against your brother, go to them.” She did. She didn’t put me on a prayer list. She didn’t write me out of her life. She didn’t get ugly about me on social media. She came directly to me. She could have thrown me under the bus. Instead, she turned it around as if it were her mistake instead of mine.

Perhaps the foundation for a good friendship begins by keeping short accounts with one another.

I’ll be back in two weeks. Until then, live well my friend.

Rev. Tony Marciano is the President/CEO of the Charlotte Rescue Mission. He is available to speak to your group. Go to www.charlotterescuemission.org and go to contact us- just ask for Pam.