Friends are lifesaving medicine
Amagic moment years ago remains vivid in my mind's eye today. It was very early in the morning, and I was hiking in the National Saguarro Park in Arizona. I watched the sun paint the sky in brilliant colors and breathed in air that a midnight rain had christened.
Better yet, I was sharing the experience with some of my best buddies. They had come through thick and thin with me — mother's stroke, my only child leaving home, singleness, remarriage, our stressful jobs, rejection, heartache and cancer scares — my friends were always there.
On the trail, our hiking guide explained that desert plants often grew in a clump ... a tall tree, a medium scrub and a smaller cactus. They gathered in clusters in order to provide shade for each other, protecting them from the blistering sun. They didn't compete for food because their root systems grew at different levels.
That's friendship, I thought, growing in clusters. No competition, just affirmation of each one's unique strengths. Our lives are supported, protected and nurtured because we stand together against the elements.
A planting of friends provides small comforts that feed the soul. In the midst of the big issues like this pandemic, small comforts are critical. Friends hear little details, provide empathy, speak truth most of the time unless it's about our hair or our weight.
I've been blessed to have several seasons of accumulated friends. From childhood through college, from work friends to today's Thunder sisters and Esther Women — we are generous with grace and encouragement.
Scientific studies indicate that female friends do more than help us live better; we live longer. The famed Nurses' Health Study from Harvard Medical School found that the more friends women had, the less likely they were to develop physical impairments as they aged, and the more likely they were to be leading a joyful life.
Having good friends is essential to our faith.
Remember how Jesus had that cluster of disciples and how He sent them out two by two? Our spiritual maturity is certainly enhanced when God provides us with the gifts of spiritual friends.
In this current situation of physical sickness, the poison of anger, the destruction of blaming, the despair of loneliness — friendships are life-saving medicine. The Lord has planted us in clusters for a reason, and together, even if it's through Zoom or a morning walk, we will continue to grow roots and reach for the sky.
“For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”
— Matthew 18:20.