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This post is about the Master of Chaplaincy Lesson #16 on "The Soul-Friend." Life provides us many opportunities to help us help others, sometimes stretching beyond what we sometimes think is possible. The following is a post that I put on my website 2 days ago, but is pertinent for this lesson. Jesus operated without a church. Yes, he taught in the Temple, but he also taught wherever people were. Taking this example, I was asked by my friend, who has since died, if I could give her dying sister energy work and counseling sessions. I went to the sister's house for her sessions, when she could no long come to my office. She knew she was dying of cancer, yet this woman remains one of the most positive, emotionally and spiritually stable people I have ever met. She asked for reflexology. I looked up at her angelic face, which radiated with a beautiful smile. One day my friend called me and told me her sister was calling everyone she wanted to say good-bye to, and asked me if I could come to her sister one last time. I should mention I never went out to house calls in my professional work. But this case was different. On this day, I showed up for the last reflexology session, greeted by her incredible smile of joy. At the end of the reflexology session, she looked so peaceful and was grateful I had come. I didn't want to leave the room, feeling like if I didn't leave the room, she would not die. We talked, but finally I had to leave. She said, "Good bye," smiling and at peace. I edged out of the room, graced by that beautiful smile of hers. What could make her so positive, so joyous, so at peace at a time like this? Her belief in a loving God and the eternal promises of the after life impressed upon my heart. The next thing I knew my friend who had ignored her own health, had cancer. I would drive the two and one-half hours one way to pick her up and bring her to my house for the weekend, after I had retired from work, giving her a break. I treasured these visits. In the end, I got a call from her family, asking me to come down so she could say good-bye to me too. A smile also graced her lips. The common thread between my friend and her sister were the incredible lives they lived, which included much struggle and strife, more than many other lives I have witnessed, even to this day. How they overcame such odds against them, while retaining their serenity and peace, is a tremendous lesson in love, on a life well lived, and an indelible model of integrity when at the end of life. Jesus operated without a church. That is what I am doing. This lesson asked if anyone had reached out to us as a soul-friend. Both of these women I mention sought me not just for human friendship and fun. They were seeking a God connection, a prayer connection and a healing connection. These women had a great love for each other, but they also had a beautiful belief in life after death, in a God who loves them. I felt honored to help these women in this way.