the wisdom of companionship.

It was getting late, Ryan had been hiding for over an hour. The barley grass made my ankles itch. I had run the field in circles too many times. Where could he be? His favourite hiding spot laid bare, not even a faltering blade of grass to give evidence of his presence. ‘Reuuubbbeeen…’ I head my name being called. I knew it was mother, she always came about now. The sun had hidden behind the hills and this meant it was time for me to come inside. ‘But I can’t find Ryan! He has been hiding for over an hour!’ I explained in exhaustion. Mum hugged me, smirked and said “Ryan went home an hour ago”.

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Don’t you hate shallow friendships? A recent self-evaluation concluded that many of my friendships were somewhat shallow. As much, and no doubt more so my fault then anybodies. Don't get me wrong, many friends i have which i consider deep and worthwhile, but i find too many short lived and lightweight.

I believe strong friendships are vital in life. They set the platform; sway decisions, change views and either hinder or help you develop social skills that stand the test of time through life. It is obvious we were not designed to do life alone.

Having said that, have you ever thought of the origin of friendship? Where did it come from? What does it mean? Is it just a nice feeling, people you can do life with to fill the boredom, and help you when you are in need, or is it more then that? Does friendship have a bigger meaning and role then we realise? I mean not to question every part of life, but I think it imperative that we understand the important parts.

The word ‘friendship’ originates from a German word, ‘Freund’ which is very similar to the old Dutch word ‘Vriend’. These two words literally mean ‘Love’.

An obvious thought. Friendship is love… But then what is love?

1 John 4:16 says: “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in Him”. A fairly straight forward statement. But what if we look at it like this? “God is friendship, and he who abides in friendship abides in God, and God abides in Him”.

Friendship is actually a cardinal part of life. A rock, a solid form on which one can build a life, career and existence. You could almost go as far as saying friendship is God in human form.

Another word for friend is ‘companion’. Your partner, associate, comrade, buddy & mate. Companion comes from an old French word ‘compagne’ Which literally means: ‘One Who Breaks Bread With Another’. Sounds vague and somewhat unusual. But not when you link it to the word Love and the Fact that God is love.

It says in Matthew 26:26: “While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and handed it to the disciples, saying, "Take this and eat it. This is my body."

So how do we apply that to our lives? Is it time to buy a bakery? Bake a few buns and pull them apart and give them to everyone we consider a friend? No! I love this verse in john 15:13 which tie the two together – ‘Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.’

The fundamental basis of friendship is that God loved us so much that he sent his son Jesus to break his bread/break his body so that we may live. This means friendship is more then trust and more then faithfulness. It goes further then loyalty. True friendship is the willingness to allow the relationship to be one of self-loss. Where you are willing to loose your life so that another may gain, putting yourself in a position of venerability, not in vain but with purpose and love, because it was Jesus who first showed the first sign of true friendship.

- Reuben Leigh Skewes