Tomorrow I am the nominated leader for an evening gathering of several esteemed saints.
We've been focusing a lot on friendship lately so it seems right to follow suit. The trouble is I'm not sure what friendship is any more?
Call it ridiculous if you like, but has it ever struck you how many forms of friendship there are?
A friend sat with me the other day and quietly listened to me as I expressed my fears and troubles. They were being a real friend; yet at other times the same friend has been distant and difficult to connect with and I've despaired of finding a way to come along side them.
Friendship is a complex thing.
I am convinced of one truth in all this: our grasp of true friendship is directly related to our ability to be vulnerable. And not everyone wants to go there...
Laughter makes us vulnerable in a good way, but tears bring vulnerability too. We are fascinated by new experiences, but we long to be comfortable. Our self protective instinct can stop us truly experiencing what it is that makes us most human - the company of loving friendship.
Someone wise once said, 'I like being happy so I want to make other people happy too.' I think they'd realised in a simple way that vulnerability is the price of friendship, and that without it we will always wonder what true friendship really looks like.
We've been focusing a lot on friendship lately so it seems right to follow suit. The trouble is I'm not sure what friendship is any more?
Call it ridiculous if you like, but has it ever struck you how many forms of friendship there are?
A friend sat with me the other day and quietly listened to me as I expressed my fears and troubles. They were being a real friend; yet at other times the same friend has been distant and difficult to connect with and I've despaired of finding a way to come along side them.
Friendship is a complex thing.
I am convinced of one truth in all this: our grasp of true friendship is directly related to our ability to be vulnerable. And not everyone wants to go there...
Laughter makes us vulnerable in a good way, but tears bring vulnerability too. We are fascinated by new experiences, but we long to be comfortable. Our self protective instinct can stop us truly experiencing what it is that makes us most human - the company of loving friendship.
Someone wise once said, 'I like being happy so I want to make other people happy too.' I think they'd realised in a simple way that vulnerability is the price of friendship, and that without it we will always wonder what true friendship really looks like.
I really needed to remember this. It's human nature to want everything spelled out. You're supposed to be THIS way, you're supposed to live your life THIS way, etc etc etc.
ReplyDeleteNo one likes the unknown. But Jesus lived his life serving the people who needed it the most...and I'm trying to do the same in this holiday season. It's cold and rainy where I'm at...we have a large homeless population and a large group of people are activists in this town pushing for human rights.
We just need to remember that God puts struggles in front of us for a reason.
It reminds me of this video I recently came across-- it's a cute little song about how Jesus and his followers actually Occupy Jerusalem.
Anyways, here it is: http://youtu.be/a6akkb_afqs
Which, it has a point.
Thanks for the encouragement, It'salways good to consider things afresh
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