Where did all my friends go?

Today Spartacus (our cat), bought me a present. It was a tiny, little, shivering mouse. He was so sweet, and when I’d put him in a box, he ate his cheese so enthusiastically that I half thought about keeping him. The impracticality of this aside, I seem to have this problem. When I take a liking to a new friend (animal or human apparently!), I want to keep them.

I hate it when friends have to leave (or when I have to leave friends)! I’m still not quite sure I’ve fully recovered from all my friends swanning off at the end of Uni, let alone my own swanning off after 7 years in Norwich.

In some ways it’s easy enough to adjust, and day by day, life is good. After all, there are new friends to be made and God always provides us with company for the journey wherever we are. But what of all those relationships that were? What of all the people you knew so well, who you shared your life with day to day before, and now you rarely, if ever, see?

I’ve yet to find someone who knows what to do with those relationships except to say, “It’s okay, because I know that the next time I see them, everything will be exactly the same as it always was.” And that seems to be our only option. “When and if I do see you, at least it won’t be awkward...”

But do you ever leave those reunion encounters thinking, “Why, if we still get on so well, do we live so far apart/meet up so seldom/talk so little?”

Seeking permanence in friendships can sometimes be too much to ask. Friends can’t easily commit to be by your side permanently, much as they might like to. Who knows when a family member or a job opportunity or even a call from God might demand they uproot their life and move on to pastures new.

Perhaps this is why Jesus is known as the “bridegroom” in the bible. He is the husband to his bride, the people of the church. Marriage – the one ordained relationship which affords us some permanence, and that is our relationship with Christ! Jesus friendship with us is not like a normal friendship. It is not a friendship which might today be close and tomorrow be distant, it is a marriage. A promise to always be by our side.

And not only that but it transcends the permanence of even the happiest of marriages – because Jesus is our faithful companion into eternity. There is no “Til death do us part” with Christ. There is only “I love you, forever.” Now that’s what I call good news for anyone who, like me, longs for a bit of permanence with their companions.

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