FRIENDS ON THE EXTRA MILE

I'm not a 'Friends' expert, but I think there's one episode where Joey tries to figure out whether any act, no matter how charitable, is ever truly selfless.

I might have dreamed it. Normally Joey was busy chatting up women, or eating cake, or pretending to be stupid.

Anyway, I thought about that phantom Friends episode today, because my friend Chris went properly out of his way to help me  - even though he absolutely didn't have to.

My Macbook failed last night, mid-rehearsal. It just stopped producing any sound. Unfortunately my rig (and particularly the Nord Stage 2 EX) really depends on the MacBook, so I had to mix my pads on the fly using the synth section on the Nord. I was annoyed - mostly because I didn't have decent presets I could bank on.

I told Chris about it later by WhatsApp. He cleverly deflected my whining and very gently made me feel a bit better about the gear-failure.

Then today, despite having a very stressful job, despite being right in the middle of a long series of 12-hour shifts, and despite being extremely good at what he does, Chris scoured the Internet for articles that might help me fix my problem.

"I really appreciate this!" I texted him. "I always like it when it's not something you have to do, or benefits you at all, but you go out of your way to do it anyway!"

I guess this is what Jesus means by going the 'extra mile'. Roman soldiers could force anyone to carry their stuff, but only for one mile - Jesus says the new normal is to do much more than is required or expected. In the searing heat of the Middle Eastern sun, those early Christians were clanking around with the luggage of their enemies, two, maybe three miles at a time.

"No worries," replied Chris, "Always glad to help when I can. It benefits everyone in the team when all our gear works."

I suspect it was a bit deeper than that, but I was reminded just how thankful I should be that I have the friends I have. They all seem to have an unspoken commitment to go the extra mile and 'be there' for each other, even when it hasn't really been their day, their month, their week, or even their year.

Who needs that show anyway, when you've got the real thing?