We are indeed blessed by God in many, many ways. Over the last several weeks, I have been thinking about his gift of friendship between those whom we meet in various circumstances that result in meaningful, and in many cases, life-long lasting relationships. I wish to share with you three difference friendships in my life that I cherish to this day – some for many, many years and others, by comparison, for a relatively brief, but nonetheless important time.
Robert was my “best” friend throughout grade school – (in the 1950’s, it seemed having a “best” friend was a requirement when you were seven or eight years old). I met my soon-to-be “best” friend in grade one. We shared a love of sports, no matter what the season. I probably spent more time at Robert’s house all year round than in my own home. His parents turned their backyard into a hockey rink where we played almost every winter day. This same backyard doubled in summer as a baseball diamond, whose dimensions, because of a garage at the rear of their home, resembled the quirkiness of Fenway Park. Grass had little opportunity to grow in this space as our feet constantly ran along the imaginary basepaths all summer long. I lost regular contact with Robert when, in the middle of grade eight, my mother, sister and I moved back to Canada. However, I was pleasantly surprised many years later when my mother arranged his visit to my wedding.
As I have grown older, I struggle with the descriptor “best” in defining my friendships as that choice of word connotes in my mind a form of artificial ranking – placing one’s many friendships in some form of hierarchical importance. So, I have chosen the term “close” to characterize a “meaningfulness” aspect in the two remaining friendships that I wish to now share with you.
I met Marc in the middle of grade eight when I returned to Canada. Although we subsequently went to different high schools and then universities, we remained close friends. After graduation, I met Marc one afternoon by chance at the corner of Bloor St. and Yonge St. where we exchanged our respective “What’s new?” questions. Much to our surprise we learned that each of us had met the loves of our lives and had set wedding dates just two weeks apart in May, 1975. For decades since that chance meeting the four of us, Marc, Sandy, Debbie and I, led amazingly parallel lives, buying the first house, having our first children and so on. Although Sandy sadly passed away almost a decade ago, Marc is still a very close friend to both of us. He still relishes rubbing it in when his beloved Montreal Canadiens beat the Detroit Red Wings.
Close friendships do not have to span decades to leave an impact on one’s life. My last example, by comparison to the ones above, is short and refers to someone many of you will know. I feel very blessed to have known Stew as my most recent “close” friend. During the pandemic, we had almost daily telephone conversations – about a variety of topics – our respective growing-up experiences, family stories, politics and perhaps most of all our views on faith, life and Scripture. For the last two years, Stew and I had our own Bible study sessions – every other Friday afternoon. We took turns picking either an Old or New Testament book to study and used these discussions to reflect on what the selected passages said to us and how it was revealed in the world that we encountered. Stew seemed to be the older brother I never had; such was this level of closeness. His sudden death earlier this year was a very large loss indeed.
The 1968 Simon and Garfunkel album “Bookends” has a wonderful song entitled “Old Friends”. In recent weeks, in thinking about my three friends, whom I am blessed to have had as part of my life, I have been humming the melody of the title track from that album – thinking about the gift of friendship, particular of those whom I call “close”. I read somewhere recently that the benevolence of God was “the willing of the good as an expression of his love” for us. This “good” in close friendships that I, and no doubt you, have had or continue to experience, offer us an opportunity to thank our Creator for these unique and meaningful relationships with others from our past, present and those yet to come. Thanks be to God.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for the gift of friendships that touch our lives in so many meaningful ways. Watch over those whom we hold in a close, special place. We pray for their good health, peace of mind and freedom from harm and injury. Through your grace, our close friendships remind us of your love for all persons in such relationships that bind people together and add meaning to their lives whether such periods are relatively short or for many years. Amen.
- GLG, March 2024.