Friendship

As I was walking my dog this morning, I began to think about the meaning of friendship. In this modern era, this idea of friendship seems to have changed dramatically. Some of this is due to social media, but also some due to a constant moving between homes, areas and jobs.

I’m not good at social media as my site suggests, but I am joining Facebook, not to ‘connect’ but so that I can get into some sites that interest me as I am locked out if I am not a member. I don’t like this idea of messages and being sent friend requests by people you don’t know very well and who are subsequently made fully aware of a lot of things about you just by seeing your ‘wall’. Messages can be so easily misread and another meaning given to them. I get on so much better with people when I am face to face with them or on the phone. Virtual meetings have helped especially during this pandemic but they can never replace meeting up together.

There are so many different types of friends now: ones you have coffee with and might do something else with them occasionally; ones that live far away and you connect online and meet rarely; ones that you have kept for a very long time since college and always have a sense of connection with even if you don’t contact each other very often. The type of friend I miss is the one that I can rely on, no matter what my problem is or how needy I am. Ones that you know will never let you down or get fed up with you. You are invested in them for life and they are invested in you. We don’t seem to have this type of friendship or value it so much any more.

I watch programmes about moving homes and areas a lot – they are fascinating to me. Examples are Wanted Down Under, Escape to the Country, Place in the Sun etc. They interest me not just for looking at other people’s homes, but also the relationships of the couples/families involved and their reasons for the move. Some move to be nearer to family which is great, but some want to go ‘rural’ or have a better life with a bigger house and more money and place little value on being close to friends and family. They often want to be isolated so they are not ‘overlooked’.

What saddens me is the little value given to family and friends in some situations and I wonder if some of these people do finally realise it is not about the size of house you have or the money you can spend, but life is about love and connection and when you give that up you lose everything.

God bless you and I hope that you are always aware of what the greatest priority of all is in life: loving God and each other.