to my brothers and sisters
I didn’t have to take a trip home to realize how much I love my brothers and my sisters. I love them dearly. Very very dearly. Reflecting about my time in Vancouver and Silverado, our Lord revealed to me something about authentic friendship: that is, it is rooted in charity, charity which is rooted ultimately in God.
I’m sure you’ve read this kind before but please bear with me. I’ve thought a lot about what it means to be someone’s friend, most especially since at times, it seems like the definition seems to hinge on a variety of different characteristics or actions. Friends are those that are always there for you. Friends who are those people you can be yourself around. Friends never forget your birthday. Friends do this, do that. Friends love you for who you are etc.
All the aforementioned cliches may be true, but my brothers and my sisters have taught me a different way. Friendship isn’t what you get out of a relationship with someone. Friendship is an encounter with love; it is an exchange of selves for the betterment of all.
When I say that friendship is an encounter with love, know that I really mean, an encounter with God. God is love. God gives Himself totally to us especially through His Son. And since He is love, who better to show us the way to authentic friendship than through God Himself. After all Jesus Himself says, “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father, I have made known to you.” (John 15:15)
What does this mean? It means friendship doesn’t depend on what others can do for you; Friends aren’t the ones that are always there for you. They won’t be, and neither will you. That doesn’t necessarily have to take you away from your friendship. It is an encounter with love, the same love that “…bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things,” (1 Cor 13:7) not for the sake of action but for the good of the other.
Through this encounter, we decide to love freely…
To love charitably…
To love to daringly…
To love, period.
I love my brothers and sisters. It’s a decision that’s not always easy to make, but a decision that points me to God.
Back to the source…
Back to Love, Himself.
