Friday, July 2, 2010

Friendship

"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival. "
~ C. S. Lewis


I quote Lewis on this particular point after yet another phone call with my best friend. She has been in on her fair share of phone calls from me in her lifetime. To count such calls would be like numbering the stars or the ever changing number of hairs on our red heads.

Brittany and I have known one another for at least 11 years. That means we've seen each other through our worst moments - also known as high school. We've seen the good, the bad, and the bed-head after sleepovers. (Oy, and those wretched plaid shirts I used to sport!)

Without Brittany my understanding of the LORD would be quite different. I might miss His grace and compassion. I might not understand what Scripture means when it says "A friend loveth at all times..." or "Forgive as God in Christ forgave you."

"Friendship is an obstetric art; it draws out our richest and deepest resources; it unfolds the wings of our dreams and hidden indeterminate thoughts; it serves as a check on our judgments, tries out our new ideas, keeps up our ardor, and inflames our enthusiasm."
~ A. G. Sertillanges


There have been graduations, commissionings, Summit days, Steak and Shake hats at midnight, fireworks, book conventions, awkward statements (those would be mine, oops), hysterical laughs, bitter tears, disappointments, hopes, fears, let downs, inspirations, on-line chats for hours, and of course, those aforementioned phone calls.

Sometimes it can be easy to forget what you have until it's gone. I have discovered that too many times in my life. This time I'm thankful for what I have: a best friend through thick and thin.

Today I praise the LORD for Brittany.

Love,
Jody

4 comments:

  1. Sertillanges is forever genius. That quote is one that I had on the outside of a notebook during Semester - and it rings true! Though Lewis can claim that friendship is not necessary, it can do so much to enrich and change our lives. To picture life without it is unbearable.

    Thanks be to God for FRIENDS. Worth far more than we could have guessed.

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  2. Sertillanges IS pure genius! I love that man. :)

    Hm, I think Lewis was using rhetoric or being somewhat facetious. Friendship isn't truly unnecessary, of course. We were made for community, not just with God, but with other humans. This is what God meant when He said it wasn't good for man to be alone.

    Friends are simply marvelous... I'm glad that you are mine, Noelle. ;)

    ~ Jody

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  3. So true, so true. Here's a wonderful quote I've been meaning to share with you. I stumbled upon it when reading "Surprised by Joy," last week:


    "There is a sense in which Arthur and Barfield are the types of every man's First Friend and Second Friend. The First is the alter ego, the man who first reveals to you that you are not alone by turning out (beyond hope) to share all your most secret delights. There is nothing to overcome in making him your friend; and you join like raindrops on a window. But the Second Friend is the man who disagrees with you about everything. He is not so much the alter ego as the anti-self. Of course, he shares all your interests; otherwise he would not become your friend at all. But he has approached them all at a different angle. He has read all the right books but has got the wrong thing out of every one. It is as if he spoke your language but mispronounce it. How can he be so nearly right, and yet, invariably, just not right? He is as fascinating (and infuriating) as a woman." -- pg. 200

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  4. *Laughs* I don't remember that part at all but it is soooo true! Thanks!

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