Ethereal Friendship

Today I was blessed to visit with two friends. We have lunch every Thursday and the hours fly by as quickly as our conversation. Another friend I had opportunity to visit with today is a friend I have known since I was 17 years old. We usually talk daily on the phone. In fact I have several friends with whom I keep in touch. My favorite Valentine, Maggy, is my dearest friend ... but a spouse is a different kind of friend. There's a greater degree of nurturing and care that should be involved in that relationship. There are continual adjustments that come with living together for a lifetime, a beautiful commitment that grows, shifts, changes, but stays everpresent. Jesus ... my friend? When I'm angry with my friends I tell them to get lost (and other stuff I need to avoid writing here!). I sometimes tell jokes with off-color puns to my friends. I tell my friends that sometimes I don't know what God is doing in my life. I laugh at my friends when they make fools of themselves. Jesus ... my friend? I kiss Maggy and hold her close. I tell her that she doesn't put the toilet paper on the holder correctly (after 17 years she has still not learned to do this). I often look innocently at her and say "what?" with a shrug of my shoulders (usually when I know she is close to throwing something). I have selective hearing loss that mysteriously disappears when she mutters something about me under her breath. Jesus ... my friend? I cannot hold him. I would not yell at him to leave me alone. It is fruitless to pretend to be innocent or act like I can't hear him. There's nothing to laugh at him about. I cannot punch him in the arm or forward e-mail jokes to him. What good is a friend like that? Is he just like the imaginary friends we invent as children? As important / essential as our earthly friendships are, the ethereal friendship we share with Jesus is moreso. Jesus is "friend of sinners" they said, with derision in their voices. Sinners enjoy being friends with sinners. There's something natural, earthy, and gritty about that kind of relationship. But when the Divine transcends our terrain and takes us by the hand ... there is something astounding about that. It is the presence of the Divine Friend in our lives that sees us through the dark valleys. It is His healing touch for which we long when our other friends are near but unable to touch the deeply hurt places in our soul. It is my friend Jesus that offers a love that never wavers. His love is strong when I say what I should not, laugh when I ought not, and turn a deaf ear when I am needed. His counsel directs my heart in the path of righteousness. In his presence my unworthiness is magnified; in his acceptance my soul glows with his grace. Yes, Jesus is my friend. I think he and I should spend more time together ... just the two of us. I've noticed that he always has time for me. Our love was like a burning ember It warmed us as a golden glow We had sunshine in December And threw our roses in the snow -- Emmylou Harris