Who Are Your Friends?

 

Good morning.

 I had a couple of visitors this week at the office.  Visitors I don’t see very often, but truly enjoy seeing when they are in the area.  We converse, laugh a bit, catch up a little on what’s going on, and generally enjoy being with each other for the brief time and brief visits we share.

Now, one would think that as someone well beyond Medicare years, I’m talking about others in or close to my age group.  But I’m not.  These visitors are both girls…sisters.  One is 12, “Soon to be 13,” as she says, and the other is 10.  They live many states away and only come to Kansas to see grand parents once in a while.  This week was spring break for them, so they made the trip…by air…on their own…to Kansas.

One of the grand parent units works at RiverWalk, so they will often accompany him here to the building for whatever reason while they’re staying with him.  And when they do, they head for the office, appear at my door, come in, plop down in the chairs, and we visit.  Our conversation is nothing important in itself, and they only stay a few minutes.  But those few minutes are golden, at least for me.

To tell you that it does my heart good to see them and visit with them is a great understatement.  My day has just become much brighter following their visit.  I bask in the glow of that visit for days after.  These girls are bright, witty, comfortable in themselves, and seem to have a good handle on what is important in life.  They remind me yet again that not all young people are self-centered, into-themselves drones living in the cyber-world to the exclusion of reality.  They remind me yet again of the importance of inter-generational relationship and communication.  They remind me yet again of the importance of human contact and the value of fostering friendships, especially with people who aren’t at all like me.

I don’t know who watches this video.  I don’t know who you are, and I certainly don’t know who is in your circle of friends and acquaintances.  But I do know some things about friends and friendships, just based on my years of life and living.  It has been said that if a person has four other people who they can truthfully call a friend, that person is blessed.  Many people have no one who they can count as a true friend, and many others have but one or maybe two.  Many don’t even count a spouse or life partner as a friend, which I have great difficulty understanding.

Additionally, it is good to have intergenerational friendships and connections.  Such relationships tend to broaden your view of the world today and promote a better understanding of varying ideological, social, philosophical, and religious viewpoints.  To interact only with people who think like you regarding politics, religion, or societal issues is, in my view, narrow-minded and it inhibits mental and emotional growth.

I only need to remember that these girls who occasionally visit, and who I occasionally hear about via social media, have always known of smart phones and instant, world-wide communication, and that for these girls, 9-11 is a distant historical event.  They’ve never known of a president other than Mr. Trump or Mr. Biden.  They may have heard of Mr. Obama, but aren’t old enough to have much information about him.  Flat-screen TV’s had already been around awhile when the older girl was born.  Truly these young people have a world view that is markedly different from mine.  So, the fact that they seem to want to see me, and I them whenever they’re in town seems all the more remarkable to me.

I can, and do learn from these kinds of relationships.  I think they make me a better person.  I think they help my physical well-being as well as my emotional well-being.  And I think that having relationships such as this benefit society, even if only in a small way.

A suggestion I have for you is to take stock of those with whom you have a relationship.  Who are your true friends?  Who are acquaintances?  Who are those who are of benefit to you and you to them, and who are those who are a detriment to you, and you to them?  Maybe it’s time for you to do some house cleaning, so to speak, turn over a new leaf (as the saying goes), and work at developing and fostering relationships that are mutually beneficial.

This post has no overt Biblical teaching; however, friendships, relationships, and good teaching regarding those subjects permeate Holy Scripture from Genesis through Revelation.  Look for them when you’re doing your daily devotions or study.

 

Blessings…