Friends

 

I was talking to a friend recently when she said something that really stuck with me. 

She had gone to visit her sister and they had had a really nice visit. 

When she left, her sister was sad.

 

She and her sister talk every day on the phone and she said that her sister had commented that their daily phone call was the highlight of her day. 

I said, “Does she have other friends?”

She said, “No. She got a friend once but then the friend went and messed it up.”

 

Then she told me the story of how the friend became controlling and manipulative and really did mess up the friendship. 

And that was that.

Her sister has no more friends.

She works. And she goes to church. So there are inevitable acquaintances.

But there is no one she considers a friend, except for her sister.

And it’s not for lack of wanting.

 

So what happens when the need for friends isn’t met? 

What happens when someone wants a friend, 

Or more than one friend, 

And the relationships just aren’t there? 

 

What happens is that 

We face an epidemic of loneliness. 

Even with all the online connections. 

Even with all the busyness. 

Even with all the work and activity. 

People are lonely. 

And the loneliness is killing us. 

Some studies suggest that loneliness can have the same effect on the body as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

In other words,

Loneliness is associated with an increased risk of heart disease, depression, and cognitive decline.

Loneliness is no joke.

 

So may we be a people who seek to combat loneliness through friendship.

 

I don’t have advice on how to make friends.

I don’t have wisdom that will make it any easier than it already is.

I just know that a friendship has to start somewhere

And that it has to be maintained somehow.

This takes time. And effort. And humility. And courage, yes. 

But we are a people who can do it. 

So let us do it. 

Today. 

 

Amen.