My Sunday thoughts today are of my beloved friend, SD. One of my closest friends. For years.

A big, healthy, fit, gorgeous man approaching his senior years, he was getting ready to retire from a longtime, intense, high-profile career in public service, when he was rear-ended.

The accident set of a chain of horrific events in which his normally fit and healthy body betrayed him in ways that would’ve driven the rest of us mad. More than mad.

Unbelievable pain. A ringing in the ears so bad he never knows silence. Ever. Constant neuropathy. I won’t even list all the surgeries, medical consults, specialists, treatments and drugs they’ve given him to try to break this cycle of pain and discomfort.

Nothing works.

It’s horrible.

The kind of stuff that could make a man harden his heart against God.

It was a bitter pill, an undeserved one, for a man who easily could’ve been taken in the line of duty. And in a way, he was.

When I told him my tinnitus was gone and my hearing was back, his note back said that he was so glad. And it also had these three words.

God is great.

Those words stood out with shocking clarity. Just the fact that he could say it, after everything that’s happened to him.

Not just his generosity in saying it. But that he thought it.

And I agree.

And, dear readers, please pray for SD. He is a wonderful man. Thank you.