The Weekend in Review...turned out to be a commentary on friends
Saturday, we went to the beach with some new "friends". I've discovered I'm quite stingy with that word. Friends. I'm sure it comes from being a disgruntled lonely person, but I've decided that people call other people friends entirely too much. It struck me on facebook the other day. I have 222 facebook "friends." I don't really have 222 friends- and I've deleted lots of people since I joined. I don't even want 222 friends. Then you read people's statuses and comments. They're full of friend this and friend that. Seriously, are you really friends with these people? And don't get me wrong, I enjoy facebook. I like getting to see what is going on in everyone's lives. I enjoy the community I get to enjoy with communities that I have left.
I guess I'm just hyper protective of that word. Friends are in a higher category for me than family. My family didn't get to choose me. They were stuck with me through birth or marriage (you can almost hear the Amstutz side groan- just kidding- don't email Tony!) Family who have become friends are truly priceless! I have a few true friends. Deep relationships that make us both better. I don't want those relationships cheapened by referring to everyone I've ever met as my friend. (You can almost hear Carson's lecture on love vs like, can't you?) I have secondary circles that involve people that I will always love dearly. I have mentors and others who have made my life better because they were in it. But I don't call all of those people my friends.
To all the people in my life who have made it better, fun, more enjoyable, healthier, happier, more challenging, calmer, and the like: Thank you. I will forever appreciate that the Lord brought you into my life. Our lives will eternally be tied together in a Christian bond. And to those of you are my true friends: I am who I am because I have you in my life. Michael Card (who is one of the great Christian minds of today) explains it this way:
Thank you to those of you who have walked beside me this far. As Paul writes in Philippians, I thank God everytime I remember you.
I guess I'm just hyper protective of that word. Friends are in a higher category for me than family. My family didn't get to choose me. They were stuck with me through birth or marriage (you can almost hear the Amstutz side groan- just kidding- don't email Tony!) Family who have become friends are truly priceless! I have a few true friends. Deep relationships that make us both better. I don't want those relationships cheapened by referring to everyone I've ever met as my friend. (You can almost hear Carson's lecture on love vs like, can't you?) I have secondary circles that involve people that I will always love dearly. I have mentors and others who have made my life better because they were in it. But I don't call all of those people my friends.
To all the people in my life who have made it better, fun, more enjoyable, healthier, happier, more challenging, calmer, and the like: Thank you. I will forever appreciate that the Lord brought you into my life. Our lives will eternally be tied together in a Christian bond. And to those of you are my true friends: I am who I am because I have you in my life. Michael Card (who is one of the great Christian minds of today) explains it this way:
Friends help each other understand who the other is.
They define one another over the course of a lifetime.
(A Fragile Stone , 58)
(A Fragile Stone , 58)
Comments