A little help from my friends!

     Wish on the one hand and want in the other.  When the Beatles penned this song they put a preface we often don't consider.  The song lyrics go: "I get by with..."  We want the last 6 words without the first 4.  We definitely want a little (if not much) help from our friends.  I'm not talking about painting the house or someone to go out to dinner with.  Nor am I talking about those friends who expect quid pro quo (fair exchange).  I'm talking about friends who are there for you no matter what.  We all have the first type of friends.  We call  them friends but avoid them for all their demands on us and our time.  I'm fairly certain that at times in my life I too exhibited this kind of friendship. 
     We collectively don't want to settle for only "a little help" in this our lives.  Our wish on the one had is for more than.  More than the status quo.  More than society defines.  More than what we can expect.  That's our wish as well.  "Wishing" is also part of this.  We "wish I may, wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight."  But, we don't really believe that.  We can't afford to because if we do we have unattainable expectations on others.  We expect the easy way out.  "I wish I weighed 200 pounds."  See, we do it more than we think.  Wishes are not realistic.  They are the fantasy we try to live out.  So, we settle with getting by with a little help from our friends.
     Want, on the other hand, feeds our disappointment in life.  The Bible says we want but do not get because we do so to get for ourselves.  For want of more, we lost that which we have.  Where wish is more fairy tale like, want is more of a demand.  We hear about peoples wants every day.  "Wanting" is so common that we mistake the want for a need.  However, there is a very huge difference.  Wants goes along as a more intense meaning than wishes.  Wants say, the object of my attention will be mine.  You must give it to me or I will take it from you.  Wants are the object of our prayers as well.  What?! We want God and people to give us our wants. 
     Wishing won't help it be true and want won't make it true.  They seem to work sometimes.  Perhaps it's out of desperation on the part of the asker that brings up this feeling?  Maybe this began as a wish and became a want when we became more desperate?   Whatever happened, we did not get our results.  What we received was not even close to repairing that rip in our life.  When wish has gone by the wayside and want seems to be unattainable, we come to that place where desperation begins to die and realistic life emerges.  It is here that we really understand we get by with a little help from our friends.
     God, like our friends, want the best for us.  That's where the similarity ends.  Our friends do not need for us to do anything but be available to them when crisis comes their way.  God the best for us all the time.  God is wiser than we are and is able to discern what is a "want" and what is a "need".  It's our needs that we should focus upon.  It's our friends and loved ones "need" that should drive us.  We cannot and should not try to be God to our friends.  We have the tendency to say things which are simply not true.  Statements like, "I know you need to..." or "You really ought to..." are most often imagined answers to unknown questions. 
     The best help I can be to a friend is to listen.  I can't "make" anything happen.  Nor can I think for my friend.  I can pray for them.  They can pray for me.  I cannot make promises and neither can they.  We become numb with unanswered prayers of vain repetitions and unrealistic expectations.  So, today sit back, listen and have another cup of coffee.  That's all you really need to do to give a little help to your friends.