Dear Friends, (my salutation here has special meaning in this post - this may be a little long - hope it is worth it)

Friendship is a treasure.  Consider these words from the Apocrypha... A faithful friend is the medicine of life. (Ecclesiasticus 6:16)   In the classic Christmas movie, It's a Wonderful Life,Clarence the witless, wingless angel writes an inscription to George Bailey in the final scene: Remember, George: no man is a failure who has friends.  If that is true and I believe it is, then I am among the greatest successes the world has ever known, blessed beyond measure with life long, dear friends. Even though some friendships are fairly recently developed by comparison, I know they will be life-long because of the "kinship" we share.

How do we cultivate true friendship in life?  I am sure there are more profound thoughts on the matter but as I ponder friendship I know there are a few essential ingredients:

1. Honesty - I have found true friends will tell you the truth even when it may be difficult to do so.  People  have walked with me in hard times - times that required brutal honesty to bring about healing and repentance. Though painful at times these friendships have been a means of the needed "medicine" to make me a better person.

2. Presence - One of the joys of Facebook has been this space where all of my life converges.  From high school to college, churches where I have serve, places where I have lived, travels around the world all of these meet in a space called "Facebook".  It allows a continued on-going presence with people who otherwise I would have lost touch with because of time and distance. The issue is being connected and present with people "whose lives are closely linked with ours".  Nothing strengthens those links than time spent in fellowship, virtual or otherwise. 

3. Eternity - This one might seem a little weird but I know in the deepest bonds of my life there is a hint of the eternal - that is these friendships will last beyond this life and have elements of the Kingdom of God in them.  In recent years I have watched many friends for various reasons leave the Episcopal Church - it has been painful and even wounding at times. I respect their decisions and even agree with many of the arguments.  It points to a deep brokenness in the church.  I pray for healing and reconciliation but to be honest I do not think it will come on this side of heaven. The good news is God will answer those prayers and when we step into the fullness of Christ and experience the glory that awaits those who believe, all the divisions will cease and the ministry of reconciliation will be realized in ways we can only glimpse now.  Not only will the tensions end but in eternity we are reunited with the saints who have gone before.  Loved ones who have made the journey to the nearer presence of Christ. There is an eternal quality to friendship.

I could go on but I will end with the obvious... LOVE  Love in all its forms: compassion; kindness; mercy; forgiveness; gentleness; grace and more fuels friendship.  Genuine, godly, sacrificial affection is the cornerstone of friendship and we see this most of all in the love that Jesus has for us.  Friendship will cost you but I can attest to the fact that a friend is worth everything you spend.  There is a shift in the relationship between Jesus and his disciples...

"Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you."
(John 15:13-15)

I am humbled as we all should be that Jesus invited us not only to come into the Kingdom but to enter as friends of the King!           

In the mission,
Fr. Jon+

A FEW THINGS...

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Next Vestry meeting has been rescheduled for Sunday afternoon June 27th - 12:30pm-4pm.

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