All I ever needed was a friend...

This morning I shared with the good folks of EDBC about the importance of friendship - and the gifts I had received from friends over the years.

It seems like most of my lasting friendships have been made through connections of common interests and the pursuit of shared passions such as running, motorcycling, kayaking, sailing ...and of following Jesus!  Here are just a few of the friends whose lives have been gifts to me over the years...

People like M. whose courageous endeavours in running several marathons was only equaled by his down-to-earth friendship and support.  Or G. whose wise counsel and sound advice enabled me to complete a post-grad project once abandoned and placed in the "too hard" basket.  And then there is N. - serendipitously met more than thirty years ago and still our lives track together and shared experiences and challenges have woven a fabric of friendship which is at once resilient and pliable.

My life has also been enriched by L. an artist who lives by faith, offering his gift of sketch and story to schools, parishes and many other gatherings; and whose shared love of two-wheeled Teutonic beasts is second only to our mutual appreciation of God's creation on trips we have taken into the high country of Victoria. (we must be due for another one soon!)

J. is another friend with whom I have shared the highs and lows of athletic endeavour in the rich realm of Masters Athletics.  We have motored to Adelaide and back in a pair of highly powered Porsches, returning with a fine selection of medals for our efforts; have  worked on cars, boats and bikes and delighted in the scented mysteries of highly charged Indian Curries at our local eatery.  His has been a gift of a generous spirit and a positive attitude to life when faced with some incredibly challenging times in recent years.


And then there is my good mate B. Although considerably older (LoL he has recently turned 60!), he still manages to  more than keep up when relaxed paddle turns to intense sprint - as it inevitably does when we are on the water!  Our mutual love for all-things-grandchildren is only part of what has provided a friendship that special edge.  His gift to me has been of that special kind of "mate-ship" where you just know that person accepts you and loves you no matter what.  We have both experienced some difficult, and even dark times in recent years.  Many hours of journeying, building, and paddling together has provided much opportunity for theological reflection, debate and compassionate listening.  A gift indeed!





I can't sign off without acknowledging one more friend - my companion of nearly forty years (we first dated when we were really young!), my life-partner and beloved wife C.  She's the one who most of all knows me in all my faults and frailties, has shared the vicissitudes of life, the struggles of faith and the cost of love - and I am deeply grateful for the gift of God she is for me... (needless to say, she won't like this picture - but I think it captures something of the nature of her sweet spirit!)

 This whole reflection has reminded me again of the words I read this morning - those of another faithful friend who once said: 

...Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends...