About Friendship

"Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence. True friendship is a plant of slow grow, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation." - George Washington

"We all lose friends... we lose them in death, to distance and over time. But even though they may be lost, hope is not. The key is to keep them in your heart, and when the time is right, you can pick up the friendship right where you left off. Even the lost find their way home when you leave the light on." Amy Marie Walz

I like these two quotes on friendship. I always say that Zeke and I have different approaches on friendship. What I mean is that we make friends in a different way. The beauty of friends is that they exist in every culture, no matter how remote a place is, there are two people who have found the gift of friendship. Friendship sometimes make situations in life more bearable. Think about the friends that Kunta Kinte had in Roots. I think that their friendship made life sweeter. You may be able to look at harsh situations in your own life and see how the friendship of someone made things better.People should not be awarded by the amount of friends they have. If popularity is your goal, go for a number of important people. If you just want the genuine, free gift of friendship, you might have to forget about numbers and focus on the quality of the relationship. Being a friend and maintaining a friend takes time. I believe that in order to establish a strong friendship will take time. No matter how quickly you click, the wisdom of years is a factor that brings health to any friendship. Maintaining a friend takes effort. It takes effort to schedule your friend into your life, even if it's every other week. It takes effort to be selfless, turn off your all important world and be there for someone else, even if it's just to listen. It takes effort not to say everything that comes to your mind but meet the person where they are and just be a friend, not a critic. I think the best friendships are formed by two transparent people who accept one another, yet wants to see the other grow. I'm still working on the tranparent thing with most people who see me day by day. I am glad to say that I can be transparent with some people in my life and I'm working on being more that way. (That's an essay for another day. I think the notion of being transparent all the time is weird but if that's what it takes to be a better person, hey, I'm up to the challenge.) It would be interested to do a study on what kind of friend Jesus is. He did called us friends. I know as a friend, He gave His all for me. He was transparent all the time and boy, did He love. He loved his friends to the point of death. Instead of making promises I can't keep during lent, I think it's worth reflecting on friendships that mirror Jesus as an example.

* This post was a little 'out there' but I've been thinking about friendships lately. I always thought that the few friends I have know who they are. To you, a huge, big, thank you.