A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter; he who finds one finds a treasure.
A faithful friend is beyond price,no sum can balance his worth.
A faithful friend is a life-saving remedy, such as he who fears God finds.
For he who fears God behaves accordingly, and his friend will be like himself.
Sirach 6:14-17
I had the chance to go out to lunch with some friends today. It was good hanging out with them, enjoying a good meal and laughing a lot. I hate to admit it, but I don’t spend enough time with my friends. It seems like we’re all so busy that we end up too tired to make the effort to get together. Of course, this leaves us disconnected from the people we want to associate with, which leads to frustration and discouragement. Can this be good for us?
Of course not. It’s really important for us to be supported by the people who care about us. They can’t effectively support us if we never talk, never see each other, never correspond. I read an article awhile back (sorry I can’t remember where) that mentioned that there are more people in our country who feel lonely today than ever before. That seems near impossible with all the technology available to us, including email, blogging, facebook, and twitter, just to name a few.
I think the reason we don’t stay in touch is that many of us are so overwhelmed that we don’t make the effort. That isn’t healthy, and we need to work on it. I’m sure everyone reading these words has at least one friend they haven’t spoken to in awhile.
My suggestion is that each of us get in touch with them this weekend. Give them a call, shoot them an email/text. Do a facebook search. I think it will be worth the effort.
An alternative spin on this would be for you to let one of your close friends know how much they mean to you. I’m sure they’d appreciate it 🙂
Have a great weekend.