I’VE BEEN PRIVILEGED IN LIFE TO HAVE MANY FRIENDS, but none better than Everett Charles Burch. Somehow I knew a few years ago when we first met at church that we would become soul mates. We just clicked. That’s how it is with some people you meet along the way. Perhaps a lot of it had to do with our common age or with the fact that we thought alike. I don’t know. I can’t explain it. It just happened.

And now he’s gone. My buddy. And I miss him. I miss his smile, quick wit, sense of humor, and the fact that he was such a Christian gentleman.

I, along with many others, was the beneficiary of his many talents as he went about doing good for others and for his Lord. But those were external gifts that he possessed. It’s his spirit that I will miss most—his generous and kind manner. To have a friend like him is to possess a great treasure, the kind that outlives life itself.

I agree with George Eliot who penned these words: “Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts, nor measure words, but to pour them all out just as they are, chaff and grain together knowing that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then, with the breath of kindness blow the rest away.”

To know that I will resume our friendship on the other side is more comforting than words can express. I look forward to the day when once again we will laugh together, worship together, and serve our wonderful Lord.

Thanks Everett for sharing a bit of your life with me.