Thanks for the Friends

I have been blessed by many friendships, the majority having somehow been related to the church. Across the spectrum from young to old these friends have made my life more meaningful and gratifying. A handful, I suppose, have distinguished themselves as “best friends”, not the least of which is my soul mate, Mary. I find it interesting to consider what leads to friendship, or what ends up in terms of animosity and enmity. I would like to be like Will Rogers who never met a man he didn’t like, but it would be less than truthful to say so. My amateur analysis concludes that it is easiest to like those who like me, and Jesus said as much when he questioned the value of such relationships. The challenge of the Christ is to love our enemies, although their may be some consolation in that the admonition is not to befriend them. What is the correlation between love and friendship? In some instances it is obvious, but I find that most times it is love of self that generates the perception of being friends. Jesus made it a point to tell his followers that rather than consider them his subordinates he regarded them as friends. So, it seems to me that there must be some sort of correlation between true love and genuine friendship that I will do well to learn as much about as I possibly can.