H,
Well, I agree completely
about the way it can be abused. Everything and anything can be abused. There is
a perversion inherit in the makeup of every good thing. I do not think we
should be ruled by the perversion though. That is the same thing with sex. We have
to unlearn the fables, excesses and cure-all fantasy that it is tethered to in
modern life. It does not mean that it does not connect. It does not mean that
we should let go of sex as community between two crucial beings. We are to run
from the perversion of it and into the truth of it. It cannot be casual in God.
On friendship, I would say
the same thing. Bad friends are as much an opportunity to love as good friends
are. We should not stop being vulnerable because we have been hurt. Hurt is
just proof of a heart that works. This is not easy I know but nothing in the
awakening of the soul is. It is necessary but not necessarily what we want.
And above all that we have
the abiding spirit of all ages. In the great pages we find this admonition to
never think we will do this in our strength. Patience is a hallmark of both
giving and receiving love.
I learn of how wrong I can
be when I rub up wrongly on my friendships. My tendency to be self-righteous is
mitigated by their tendency not to indulge my nonsense. I suddenly see, with
you and others, how quickly I can be wrong and think I am right. The inverse is
the case, also, on the rare occasion that I make my conscience an idol.
All of this is what
companionship brings. It is not only that you are affirmed by ease but you are
also affirmed by difficulty. In the best of friendships, there is this great
thing about speaking to your wrongdoing without devaluing your humanity or
impinging on your growing affiliation to deity. In the worst of friendships,
you are left with most of the same questions. Both should lead you more and
more to your knees, in submission, love and prayer.
No comments:
Post a Comment