I've thought about this on this blog before, but I was reading a scripture this morning and wondered how they used that word. Luke 7:34
Many people I know describe a friend as someone who accepts them who they are. I believe it's more than that. After all, the drive-through operator at Burger King accepts you as you are. He just wants your money, and he is not your friend. He may act friendly towards you, but he is not your friend.
Over the weekend, I lost two Facebook 'friends'. I don't really like Facebook nomenclature very much, because I have some 'friends' who are people I have never actually met. I believe that Facebook has helped to confound society's definition of what a true friend really is.
Christmas Eve, I had a conversation with a female friend from whom I had not heard for some time. The last time we spoke, I called her because I had a feeling that I should, and she brushed me off. She told me that my phone call helped her realize that she was doing the wrong things because I had noticed she needed help. That's what Friends really do. They tell you what you need to know and help you do what you ought, even at the risk of being 'unfriended'.
Some people have no idea what the title "Friend" really means. They bandy it about with reckless abandon, applied to those with whom they joke and who joke about them at their expense, at those whom they snub and who snub them in return, at those whom they betray and who betray them in kind, at those whom they exploit and who exploit them in retribution. They apply it to coworkers and acquaintances, people they barely met and people they barely remember. Yet these people are noticeably absent when they are sick or poor or lonely or hurt. Their 'friends' do not give of themselves unless they are guaranteed reciprocal exchange.
True Friends will differ from the people toward whom you have come to apply that term. They will be at peace even if they smile seldom. They will move quickly, confidently, in the direction of their dreams. They will encourage us, welcome us, accept us, even as we snub, exploit, and betray them. They will largely work in the background. You will think you are being nice to them when in reality they are being nice to you. They will love you more than others do and more than you deserve but they will need you less. They will have time for you anytime, and you will wonder how they manage to make it. And after you have stabbed them in the back, laid waste to their estate, broken their heart, and brought them to the brink of ruin in every way imaginable, they will still come and rescue you when you call, because they are true friends.
You cannot be a true friend until you are true to yourself, and since most people do not yet know who they really are they are incapable of being your friend because they cannot be true to that ephemeral morass in which their soul resides.
The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!We use words today much differently than they would have when the original authors of Biblical works wrote them down, and even still since the time of King James, whose authorized version contains this particular translation. What does it really mean to be a friend, and why might they have used that word? I have noticed as I make a study of word meanings with my copies of dictionaries historical and modern of the English language that English completely rearranges itself almost every century.
Many people I know describe a friend as someone who accepts them who they are. I believe it's more than that. After all, the drive-through operator at Burger King accepts you as you are. He just wants your money, and he is not your friend. He may act friendly towards you, but he is not your friend.
Over the weekend, I lost two Facebook 'friends'. I don't really like Facebook nomenclature very much, because I have some 'friends' who are people I have never actually met. I believe that Facebook has helped to confound society's definition of what a true friend really is.
Christmas Eve, I had a conversation with a female friend from whom I had not heard for some time. The last time we spoke, I called her because I had a feeling that I should, and she brushed me off. She told me that my phone call helped her realize that she was doing the wrong things because I had noticed she needed help. That's what Friends really do. They tell you what you need to know and help you do what you ought, even at the risk of being 'unfriended'.
Some people have no idea what the title "Friend" really means. They bandy it about with reckless abandon, applied to those with whom they joke and who joke about them at their expense, at those whom they snub and who snub them in return, at those whom they betray and who betray them in kind, at those whom they exploit and who exploit them in retribution. They apply it to coworkers and acquaintances, people they barely met and people they barely remember. Yet these people are noticeably absent when they are sick or poor or lonely or hurt. Their 'friends' do not give of themselves unless they are guaranteed reciprocal exchange.
True Friends will differ from the people toward whom you have come to apply that term. They will be at peace even if they smile seldom. They will move quickly, confidently, in the direction of their dreams. They will encourage us, welcome us, accept us, even as we snub, exploit, and betray them. They will largely work in the background. You will think you are being nice to them when in reality they are being nice to you. They will love you more than others do and more than you deserve but they will need you less. They will have time for you anytime, and you will wonder how they manage to make it. And after you have stabbed them in the back, laid waste to their estate, broken their heart, and brought them to the brink of ruin in every way imaginable, they will still come and rescue you when you call, because they are true friends.
You cannot be a true friend until you are true to yourself, and since most people do not yet know who they really are they are incapable of being your friend because they cannot be true to that ephemeral morass in which their soul resides.
1 comment:
As always, I love the way you think (maybe because it's the same way i think! ha!)about things. These are profound, deep and searching thoughts and I loved them. Thank you!
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