“What a friend we have in Jesus…” begins the old hymn proclaiming the great gift of friendship with God. I’ve been thinking about friendship a lot lately, as some long time friends are being lost through death or dementia.
“Faithful friends are a sturdy shelter; whoever finds one finds a treasure. Faithful friends are beyond price, no amount can balance their worth. Faithful friends are life-saving medicine; those who fear God will find them.” (Sirach. 6:14-16)
What a blessing it is to have true friends with whom I can really be myself, and not have to filter my words for fear of their disapproval or rejection. “Whoever finds one, finds a treasure” is the quote from Sirach, and indeed to have even one friend such as this is priceless.
The quote from George Sand comes to mind here:
“O the comfort, the inexpressible comfort, of feeling safe with a person, having to neither weigh thoughts nor measure words, but to pour them all out, just as they, are, chaff and grain together, knowing that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then, with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away.”
I’ve been blessed to have a few such friends in my 77 years, and am so grateful to God for bringing them into my life. Yet even the very best of these cannot match the friendship I have with Christ, the only One with Whom I feel completely safe. My human frailty has caused me to hurt even those whom I most love, and to be misunderstood and rejected by some with whom I have been most transparent and vulnerable. We live in an imperfect world this side of eternity, and the need to live a forgiving life is essential. Even our best intentions may be mis-guided, causing pain and suffering where we meant to bring love.
This brings me to the perfect Friend, the One Whose constant and faithful love holds me close, and Whose corrections when offered are always done in love and gentleness. I have found the pearl of great price, the treasure in the field – Jesus! Or rather, He found me, and He won’t let me go!
Thank you Lord, for the gift of human and divine friendship! May my friendship with You teach me how to be a better friend to my human companions on the journey, and point the way to perfect friendship, one with the Trinity…
Spiritual Sun Pennies 