It Really is All About Relationships

Yesterday, I reconnected with an old friend. It was so good to hear a familiar voice. There is that sense of goodness that familiarity brings; an old friend is like that old sweater, a favorite chair, only better. My friend and I weren't at odds with one another. We were just going on with our lives, and didn't happen to cross paths for a while. But, this encounter got me to thinking about how friendships affect our lives. I do realize that books have been written on this. This is just a few reflections on the subject.

Scott Peck says, "Life is Difficult." It is, but life is not only difficult, it is busy. Some people are seen everyday; relationships with them are pretty easy. The problem is maintaining relationships with people that are close friends when we no longer see them day by day. They, or we, might have moved or gone to another job. We still have the friendship, and that friendship is important. The problem is that to act on that friendship, we now have to make a special effort to make anything happen. What do we do? In many cases, we just let it all go; the friendship is just something in our past. I is just a pleasant memory. Others go crazy trying to keep the friendship as it was. This is a real problem because now we have added an extra burden to an all ready cluttered life. The friendship becomes an extra burden; guilt and/or resentment follows.

I would suggest -- I suggest it to myself because I am really not good at this -- that there is another alternative. We need to relax. We still have a friend. We need to check in with each other once in a while. A quick email, card or phone call is plenty. Perhaps we are even able to get together for a face to face sometime. We need to relax; the relationship has changed, but it is still there. We can continue to think of one another, to pray for one another and connect when it is right.

I am glad that I have many friends. I am even more happy that I have managed to keep up with many -- I wish it was more. I have done a lot of good things. I still do a lot. But, when I think of the things that mean most to me, it really is all about relationships.