. .
. what about friends? How do they fit into a devout life?
 hen I was in Mexico a few years
ago, doing free work to help build a website for some nuns, the Mother Foundress
put her arms around me as I left. She leaned her forehead against mine, and
we stayed that way in contemplative silence for a few minutes.
Then she said, “I love
you.”
Understanding that this was spoken
by a nun, I replied, “And I love those who love Christ more than they
love me.”
I
don’t seek out friends for personal fulfillment, but I do have friends
with whom I share my love of Christ. And in this I have one rule: sharing
can never fall into expectancy or it will destroy itself.
This rule really derives from
a mystical understanding of God’s gifts: God gives us many gifts, not
for our personal benefit, but to help us do His will. We must accept these
gifts as they are given, when they are given, without expecting them. We
can beg for them in our need, yes—and then we must wait patiently for
God to do what He wills.
 And
so it is with friends. We turn to Christ for all our needs; we seek His Kingdom
before all else. When a friend needs help, we give whatever God gives us
to give, according to God’s will. And when God gives us scattered time
for mutual sharing with a friend, free of all expectancy and demand—like
wildflowers in a meadow—we rejoice.
Nevertheless, all friendship
must be like Saint John the Baptist pointing to the Cross: Him, not
me.
  
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Huh? Donations? Freewill
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