Friendship

I have always had friends, but over the last few years, friendship has taken on a much more significant meaning. I guess some of it could be attributed to age. (I'm about to officially enter the "late thirties." Ugh!) But I really believe that these more honest, real life, deep, life-long friendships are from God. Now, if you are a friend from years ago, please don't take offense. This in no way minimizes any friendship from the past. It's just that God has revealed more of Himself in these last few years and He has brought people into my life that have walked that path with me. I think it could be compared to the kinds of friendships formed by those who serve in the military together. There's something life-altering about going to battle together. That is true in a spiritual sense, too. When you have shared life together when life is hard, intimacy forms. When you experience the reality of God together, you are forever connected. This is the life Jesus was talking about in John 10:10b, "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." (ESV)

I am finding that this is not a new phenomenon. There have always been people who have shared life this way. One group was called the Inklings. This group included the likes of C.S. Lewis (who wrote The Chronicles Of Narnia), J.R.R. Tolkien (who wrote The Lord Of The Rings), and author Charles Williams. I came across a quote from Lewis tonight that was written after Williams passed away and it captures the essence of friendship like I never could.

"In each of my friends there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out. By myself I am not large enough to call the whole man into activity; I want other lights than my own to show all his facets. Now that Charles [Williams] is dead, I shall never again see Ronald's [Tolkien's] reaction to a specifically Charles joke. Far from having more of Ronald, having him 'to myself' now that Charles is away, I have less of Ronald...In this, Friendship exhibits a glorious 'nearness by resemblance' to heaven itself where the very multitude of the blessed (which no man can number) increases the fruition which each of us has of God. For every soul, seeing Him in her own way, doubtless communicates that unique vision to all the rest. That, says an old author, is why the Seraphim in Isaiah's vision are crying 'Holy, Holy, Holy' to one another (Isaiah 6:3). The more we thus share the Heavenly Bread between us, the more we shall have." -C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves, pg 61-62

Seeking Bread, Sharing Bread,
~Jon