Friends who are the examples of Easter people that we all strive to be

06Apr
Two people are better than one, when two people work together, they get more from the work they do.
 -Ecclesiastes 4:9 

A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
-Proverbs 17:17

Once we have discovered the love that doubles life but does not consume it; we must live so that the other, who walks by the light within us as well as the light within herself, may not proceed befuddled by our own failure to illuminate the way. The love of a friend comes always with a lantern in hand.


-The Friendship of Women, by Joan Chittister

I participated in two book clubs recently with some amazing women who, like myself, were interested in learning more about women who were mentioned in the Bible. We read the book The Friendship of Women, by Joan Chittiser. In the past four months I have now read the book twice and discussed it with two completely different groups of women. The discussions were very different because we are all coming from different points of view in our lives. However, one theme remained - not only is friendship a vital part of our existence in this world, it is also represents a window into our souls and our relationship with God. 


The Bible says little about friendship at all, much less about the friendships between women. Ecclesiastes 4:9 describes friendship as being teamwork and mutual strength, which is better because it provides more fruits from labor and can bring strength against a common enemy in times of adversity. Proverbs 17:17 seems to describe friendship as love, but then goes on to describe family or brothers as being better in a crisis. Friendship is described in these verses as showing strength, bringing in more profits and showing power against an enemy. These seem like rather masculine descriptions of friendship if you ask me. 


From our discussions, we realized the feminine description of friendship is vastly different as it focuses more on supporting one another, enabling each other to grow, constant presence, the willingness to always show up, the ability to nurture and fill our lives with joy. Women encourage each other to become better versions of ourselves and fill our lives with the light of new understanding. Women show up with a “lantern in hand” – showing their friends the way and cheering them on as they go. Women see other women as we truly are and deeply value, respect and love that truth in one another. 


As we enter the season of Easter the liturgical colors switch to white, which symbolizes celebration. The color white is significant to me in friendship because I met my best friends in college where our sorority symbol was the white rose. I pray this Easter season we can all find a moment to celebrate the friendships in our lives; the friendships that build us up, fill our cup and bring us closer to God. Friends who are the examples of Easter people that we all strive to be. Thank you to the friends who recently shared this book with me. You have all been lights in my world and voices of love. 


Musical Reflection - You've Got a Friend - Carole King


Holy God, we are so grateful for our friendships, and for the example of Mary Magdalene, the friend who would visit Jesus, even in death, and proclaim to his followers that He is Risen! Give us grace to nurture our friens and and gratitude for all who call us to friendship. Amen.

Friendship

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