Thee Lift Me
Thee lift me and I'll lift thee and we'll both ascend together.
I've been thinking lately about the importance of having a true friend. Friends may come and go in our lives, even good friends. We will need them for different reasons at different times. It's wonderful to have a large group of friends to get together with frequently.
But what everyone needs most of all is a friend to really share with. We need to be able to share with someone our joys and successes, but more importantly our sorrows and struggles. We need to be vulnerable.
This kind of relationship takes a substantial amount of trust. It can't develop overnight. We need to be working to create new relationships and strengthening existing ones so we will have someone to turn to and so that others will turn to us in times of need.
We are social creatures. We need opportunities to be ministered to and to minister to others. Service blesses all involved—when it is done in love.
I worry with our ever-connected disconnectedness that we will lose these kinds of relationships. So many of our interactions with others now occur over the internet or text (and I am guilty of this, too) that we lose the personal feelings in our relationships. Beyond this, we don't even see people's real lives—only that which they wish us to see. We need friends that we can trust with the truth, with our real lives.
I was at a friend's house this week and we enjoyed an hour or two talking about real things. Her home wasn't in perfect order—and I assured her that mine isn't either—but it was a home. It's peaceful, warm, and happy. She said I couldn't go in her kitchen because the breakfast dishes weren't done. When I left, I went through her back door, and had to walk by her kitchen. I didn't notice it. It's the people that matter, and we need to be able to share our messy kitchens. I told her that when she comes over, if my house isn't clean, it's an honor, I consider her a true friend, one I trust enough to see my messy kitchen, my real life.
We need these friends, We need to be these friends, so that when "when sore trials come upon [us]" we have each other. And let us never forget our heavenly Friend, who is always there for us and loves us better than anyone else ever could. He will never forget us or forsake us; He only wants us to remember him.
–Quaker proverb
I've been thinking lately about the importance of having a true friend. Friends may come and go in our lives, even good friends. We will need them for different reasons at different times. It's wonderful to have a large group of friends to get together with frequently.
But what everyone needs most of all is a friend to really share with. We need to be able to share with someone our joys and successes, but more importantly our sorrows and struggles. We need to be vulnerable.
This kind of relationship takes a substantial amount of trust. It can't develop overnight. We need to be working to create new relationships and strengthening existing ones so we will have someone to turn to and so that others will turn to us in times of need.
We are social creatures. We need opportunities to be ministered to and to minister to others. Service blesses all involved—when it is done in love.
I worry with our ever-connected disconnectedness that we will lose these kinds of relationships. So many of our interactions with others now occur over the internet or text (and I am guilty of this, too) that we lose the personal feelings in our relationships. Beyond this, we don't even see people's real lives—only that which they wish us to see. We need friends that we can trust with the truth, with our real lives.
I was at a friend's house this week and we enjoyed an hour or two talking about real things. Her home wasn't in perfect order—and I assured her that mine isn't either—but it was a home. It's peaceful, warm, and happy. She said I couldn't go in her kitchen because the breakfast dishes weren't done. When I left, I went through her back door, and had to walk by her kitchen. I didn't notice it. It's the people that matter, and we need to be able to share our messy kitchens. I told her that when she comes over, if my house isn't clean, it's an honor, I consider her a true friend, one I trust enough to see my messy kitchen, my real life.
We need these friends, We need to be these friends, so that when "when sore trials come upon [us]" we have each other. And let us never forget our heavenly Friend, who is always there for us and loves us better than anyone else ever could. He will never forget us or forsake us; He only wants us to remember him.
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