Friends and Their Limitations - from Henri Nouwen's
Bread for the Journey
We need friends. Friends guide us, care for us, confront us in love, console us in times of pain. Although we speak of "making friends," friends cannot be made. Friends are free gifts from God. But God gives us the friends we need when we need them if we fully trust in God's love.
Friends cannot replace God. They have limitations and weaknesses like we have. Their love is never faultless, never complete. But in their limitations they can be signposts on our journey towards the unlimited and unconditional love of God. Let's enjoy the friends whom God has sent on our way.
For further reflection ...
"... for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." - I Samuel 16: 7 (NRSV)
|
