I’ve Been Gifted

And a youth said, "Speak to us of Friendship."

Your friend is your needs answered.
He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving.
And he is your board and your fireside.
For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace.
When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the "nay" in your own mind, nor do you withhold the "ay."
And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart;
For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unacclaimed.
When you part from your friend, you grieve not;
For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain.
And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit.
For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own mystery is not love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable is caught.
And let your best be for your friend.
If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him know its flood also.
For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill?
Seek him always with hours to live.
For it is his to fill your need, but not your emptiness.
And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.
For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.

                                On Friendship – by Gibran Khalil Gibran, in ‘The Prophet’

I couldn’t describe friendship in any better collection of words than this poem by a favourite poet. 

And this week, I am celebrating an answer to prayer that has given me back a friend. Amen, Thank You Lord.

Recently I saw a public figure post a series of complaints on social media about the quality of friendships in today’s world. I sympathised with him, but I also wish I could get the message to him – your friendships are only as good as the work and effort you put into keeping them going and staying. As Khalil put it – a friend is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving.

I don’t have a trailer full of them. In fact, I don’t even have 5 people I can call close friends. The time and effort you need to put into maintaining a friendship can be daunting. So you need to invest wisely and consistently. But for that one, two or three, go full out, be there, be known and know them. Invest time, talent, heart and soul and even when it is not convenient; seek them always with hours to live, not to kill.

“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one.'” ~ C. S. Lewis

“Hold a true friend with both your hands.”  - Nigerian Proverb