In his song, Blood Brothers, Bruce Springsteen expresses our need for human support:
Now the hardness of this world
slowly grinds your dreams away
Makin' a fool's joke
out of the promises we make ...
And what once seemed black and white
turns to so many shades of gray ...
We lose ourselves in work to do
Work to do and bills to pay ...
And it's a ride, ride, ride,
and there ain't much cover ...
With no one runnin' by your side ...
my ... blood brother
We all need someone running by our side. We all need a blood brother or a blood sister. We all need someone who is, as a backwoods friends from my childhood called it, our "road dog." A road dog is a person who journeys with you over a period of time. Your road dog supports you and you support them. You deal with problems together. You suffer together. You laugh together. I wonder who is your road dog? And I wonder to whom you are a road dog?
The evil forces of this world seek to divide and conquer humanity one person at a time. Their design is to destroy families, friendships, and any means of support that would stand between them and an individual. Some of us are already there: Feeling alone and devastated. As Bob Dylan put it, feeling "blown out on the trail." Jesus has been there too. That is what he was feeling when he cried out his last words from the cross to which he was nailed: "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"
