It has been a year since I last saw those people who I still miss. They loved Semuon, and I loved them. Just who was it that destroyed this relationship between us? I feel so much sorrow and anguish because of this. I am sorrowful that time has gone so fast and I did not even have the time to comfort their broken hearts. I am afraid that I might not see them again while I still live on this earth.

Friends are those whom you love. And they were my true friends. Friends know each other’s hearts and even each other’s weaknesses. Their love for each other, however, is never disturbed. Even the Lord Jesus said to us, “You are my beloved sheep, and my beloved friends.” But were we truly friends? Or was this just a mere formality?

Even if that were the case, we were still friends who knew and embraced each other in spirit. I put so much effort to try to meet my beloved friends again. And they might have seen the effort in my spirit. Why is it that we cannot meet each other again, as if we were still enemies?

I, Semuon, preached my faith to them from the very beginning. They also rejoiced once they learned the truth. Or was it mere vanity and indulgence? I am deeply sorrowful, since they spurt out words like ‘pseudo-religion’ and ‘heresy’ against me. I am not, however, the originator of a ‘pseudo-religion’, just because they say I am. Who was it that motivated them to say such things? There is one baptism, and there is one Lord. How did we become separated like this? This is indeed very hurtful.

I, Semuon, only want to bless and feed them with the fullness from heaven. But they do not want to listen, and are not willing to come to me at all. It is only the devil who delights in this situation. And this situation only provides him with more chances to do his work. They are insisting that they will only confront me in the Court of the Law. Therefore, I am compelled to ’render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s’ and ‘render to God the things that are God’s.’

My friends, whom I loved from the very beginning, I am now waiting for you with a heart wide open. Hurling insults at each other does not come from the truth. Lies do not come from the truth. What words are you still only listening to? It is written that ‘without the truth, we only end up killing each other.’ We are brothers and sisters who know and believe the truth. I, Semuon, will only speak the truth. Only when you hear the truth, can your souls live. I write this to my friends, whom I still long for.

Semuon