Is there anything more precious than a close friend?
I recently attended a fantasy baseball draft in Nashville in a league that I've been part of for several years now. A little more than half of this league is composed of a group of guys that have been friends for most of their lives. In this setting, I'm definitely on the outside looking in. There is a comradery there that I could never participate in. Not because I'm not a good fit or because the group is exclusive, but rather because what these guys have can ONLY be built by real life and time.
While I am not a part of this group of friends, I do have a group of friends like this. A group of 4 guys that I have laughed with, cried with, rejoiced with, hurt with, travelled with, and fought with over the course of the past 24 years or so (hard to believe!). Life has separated us now and we only touch bases a couple times a year or so, but there is still something there that can't be duplicated in other friendships.
I sometimes try to think of what my life would be like today if these guys weren't a part of it. I shudder when I do because nothing ties me to the past and brings my life together like these friends because they really know me. They know my gifts and abilities because they saw many of them come into being. They know my greatest successes and worst mistakes because they walked with me through them and in many cases contributed to them.
I have other friends that are like this group of guys that aren't connected to that group. They are friends that are a little more active in my life now, and I am most thankful for them, but there is still something missing that only time can create.
I think that success in this life could easily be measured by the number of close friends we may have. Remember the Proverbs tell us that He who has friends must himself be friendly. SO, get out there and open up yourself to the people that you know and see what happens. You can't manufacture a genuine life-long friendship. They are crafted by the happenings of life in the hands of God. He builds them and He sustains them.
Is there anything more precious than a close friend? Well, maybe 2 close friends!
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8 comments:
I second that one, bodey. Getting together in BR for that football weekend in October was a blast. We need to make time to do that from now on.
You still need to come ski once your innards are cooperating. We can ski into June up here.
-James Joseph Clark
welcome to the blog world Big Daddy.
I need my Velvet Elvis bach :-)
Blog on!
"back", "bach" which ever :-p
Wade...This is Martha Jane Alexander--Patrick's wife...I am so glad to find you on here...Small world for sure...I am going to get Patrick to read your blog and he might comment as well..We have a blog too! Thanks for being a wonderful friend to Patrick..your influence has had lasting affects!
Featheriron,
I told you I burnt that piece of heretical literature...
Actually, Brian and Casey Edwards have had it with instructions to get it to you since I was in BR last...
When I think of my "life long" friends, I tend to remember people that I don't talk to at all, or have no idea where they are. I think that time doesn't have so muc to do with builiding long term friendships, as it does with proving them.
Jeff, I think that time proves and improves friendships. Time will also reveal alot about us. Time and circumstances and life change can make long-term friendships like I mentioned in this post impossible. Sometimes, though, an absence of any time-proven friendships is an indication of character flaws in the friendless.
My long-term friendships were founded in and are still based in Christ. That is ultimately the bond that has held us together.
The other group I referenced doesn't have that foundation, but they are bound by other common life-long interests...
Yeah, I was referring to friendships that I have had in the past that I thought would be life long. These are the same people that I don't see or talk to anymore. For the past few years, I really don't speculate about who will be life-long friends. People change, life changes, circumstances change. Although, there are still those old friends that I hang out with from time to time and we click again immediately. That is what I meant by time proving the long term relationships.
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