Psalm 2 - Those Who Journey With Us

We are about to do a remodel on our home and as such there is a lot of rearranging and moving to accommodate the changes. In the process you come to realize just how much “stuff” one accumulates in this journey of life. As I go through drawers and cupboards I can attach stories and “moments” to so many of the items that seemed so very necessary at the time, but now are relegated to the darkened confines of shelves and closets. Some of my “collections” have monetary value, but their value to me has diminished as my interests changed. Somehow the hunt was far more rewarding than the actual possession of them. None of these “things” can comfort me when my heart is hurting. None of these “possessions” lend a listening ear when I need someone to talk to when I am confused or discouraged. They have little to offer past the momentary pleasure of acquisition or the possible monetary reward. Sure some of them provide physical comforts. But meeting my physical needs alone leaves me….well, lonely. The one treasure that has actually increased in value and importance in my life journey is something that isn’t material in nature, but relational. It is the gift of friendship. I would like to say that this is one thing that can’t be bought. Some would say you can. But I would venture to say that upon examination our definition of friendship would be quite different. Interestingly enough I have found that many people equate acquiring vast numbers of friends with their own worth. It probably starts somewhere in our youth where our popularity is in direct proportion to the number of people that sign our yearbooks. My high school yearbooks are filled with signatures of “friends” that vowed undying loyalty simply as a result of having spent a semester sitting next to me in one of my classes or having a locker next to mine. Most of them I haven’t seen or heard from after exiting that particular class. Of course, there were always new “friends” in the next semester’s classes and they too would pledge their devotion in the next edition of the school yearbook. Some of them even spell your name correctly and say things far deeper than “have fun with the boys” and “have a great summer”. I see the MySpace pages in today’s world and notice that many people have hundreds of “friends. I see a term BFF. I think it refers to Best Friend Forever. It seems like there are a lot of people whose “forevers” are very short lived. Their BFF changes frequently and is seemingly easily replaced if anything complicates the relationship. Along this journey I have learned the difference between what I now consider to be acquaintances and those people who come into your life that are truly FRIENDS. FRIEND is not a term that I use loosely anymore. To me a true friend is one that knows the deepest parts of your heart, even the dark places that you have chosen to hide and protect out of fear of rejection, and chooses to still love. They STAY. They choose to not run when issues complicate the relationship. They value you enough to fight for the friendship by being willing to spend hours talking to be able to hear and understand your heart and see the broken parts as worth fixing. They are longsuffering because sometimes it just takes a while to get it, but they stick around until you do and then they celebrate those life victories with you. They laugh with you, not at you, and they cry with you when you hurt. They are your greatest fan and yet they sometimes even challenge you because they see things in you that you can’t even see in yourself and they want to see you become who you were created to be. They speak truth…but always in love and always with your best interest in mind. They prefer you. You can spend hours with them talking about anything and everything or feel completely comfortable just sitting quietly in their presence knowing there is no place that you would rather be at that moment. Awkward silence doesn’t exist in this world. It is totally not about where you are at, but who you are with. Sure, being at the beach, lying under the stars at that moment would make it perfect, but then again…only with them. They know exactly what you are thinking, and you know they know exactly what you are thinking, even before a word is spoken. You can see it in their eyes…that knowing glance and little smile. Anymore it is not the quantity of friends that I desire, but the quality of friends. It is not about how wide my circle of friends is, but the depth of the friendships that I possess in my life. It is no longer how many signatures are in my book of life, but how deeply they have chosen to write their name into my heart…with permanent marker.