I cannot even imagine where I would be today were it not for that handful of friends who have given me a heart full of joy. Let’s face it, friends make life a lot more fun.

Charles R. Swindoll

This refers to the 2017 movie featuring Owen Wilson and Julia Roberts. In the ending scene, the protagonist Auggie is awarded the Henry Ward Beecher medal. This is explained to be a service award which honors students who have been notable or exemplary. The awarder then goes on to state that good deeds come in many forms and begins reading an excerpt that says, “Greatness lies not in being strong but in the right using of strength, he or she is the greatest whose strength carries up the most hearts by the attraction of his own.”

This statement resonated with me. I guess it’s made connections for me. Aristotle believed that the meaning to life was human flourishing. St. Augustine believed it was to serve and love God while loving your kinsman just as much as God. To carry up the most hearts through attraction of your own, that is a spirit, a person worth meeting. I know I know sentimentalities, but have you ever met someone who can raise the lowest of spirits? Someone who can bring hope when despair is all that can be seen? Think of that friend that can always pick you up when your down. Isn’t that someone who deserves to know they’re appreciated? That is what that phrase presents to my understanding. There could be no better feeling than raising hearts and having the strength to do that, even in the most simplest of tasks is amazing.