Like a box of chocolates, friend comes in all shapes and sizes and tastes.
Lately I have been considering some of the different things friends offer in their variety. One of the things I appreciate about true friends is the initiative they take to make contact. I appreciate that life can be busy and it is a significant and active choice that is made to invest time in contacting and engaging in conversation. It says something about the value of the relationship that the other person takes that time and that initiative to maintain that contact in that constructive way.
As well as that, the thing about maintaining that contact is the degree of trust that is made in the continuing of the conversation. I was reflecting on the final meal Jesus had with His disciples before He was arrested. In that meal, among other things, He shared how the nature of His relationship with them was as one with friends. It was with friends because He was divulging details of that which mattered to Him most. Whenever anyone places that degree of trust in a conversation with me, then I know that the level of relationship and conversation is not a shallow, casual thing. It matters.
That’s not dismissing shallow and casual – that has its place. Not every conversation has to be seriously deep and revealing. yet if there’s no capacity for that in the relationship, then that in itself is revealing. Just like if the friend doesn’t take the initiative to contact and cultivate constructive conversation.
Friends come and go. That’s not always a bad thing because it’s just like seasons of life. There is something really special about establishing a friendship that lasts over the seasons and can be referred to in any season. That says a lot about the person and it say a lot about the value that’s mutually placed in committing to each other.
I am grateful to God for friends, I hope to grow to be that kind of friend.
(Photo by KaLisa Veer on Unsplash)
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 