The Gift of Friends

My focus has shifted quickly to preparing for a Retreat in September that I am keynoting at Camp Christian on Spiritual Friendships.  Suddenly I am on the computer looking for quotes and readings and information about friendship.  I have several books that I am also reading/perusing to help me discern what these keynotes are going to be about.

And - not surprisingly - I am calling on friends to help me.  I just wrote up some meditations and emailed them to Susan in Phoenix for help in editing.  Over the past few weeks I have called on so many others to help with workshops for this and just for guidance.  It is true that I get by "with a little help from my friends."

I have found - in retirement - that I am busier than I ever imagined that I would be just keeping up with various people from my life as well as family. What is clear to me - especially as I am doing this reading and reflecting on friendship - is that it is our friends who can really support us in the hardest times and lighten our way - not just with guidance but humor. 

Here is a meditation on friendship I found that I really like:

Meditation on Spiritual Friendship

We are not meant to be solitary figures
Walking a lonely path toward heaven.
We are meant for God and for each other.
We are one body with many parts,
sharing our gifts and growing in faith.
Today we pray for the grace
To recognize the friends in our midst,
to open our eyes, our hearts, our minds
to the possibility of what God has planned.
We long for a community of friends
to journey with us, and we know now
that through trust and abandonment,
we will be given exactly what we need.
— Mary DeTurris Poust, “Walking Together”