I loved this Noel Piper article on friendship.
Some reflections on it
1) One is never to old to make new friends. Noel says she formed her first real friendships at the age of 60.
2) The best way of establishing friendships–be open and honest, undefended.
3) And then, the miraculous counter-intuitive truth: Being open and honest about the very things which we think will repel people in fact attracts people to us.
We might think it’s our shiny, glitzy, perfect exterior which will win us friends and approbation. But it does not–people either do not believe in it, or are intimidated by it. It’s by sharing the real you–failures, faults, fears, weaknesses, and humiliations (along with the peaks) that we attract friends who love and trust us.
Read my new memoir: Rosaries, Reading, Secrets: A Catholic Childhood in India (US) or UK.
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Anita Mathias says
Yes, most people can count such friends on the fingers of one hand. I have a few such people myself. It's gets tricky though, when what you have to share involves people other than yourself!
Anita Mathias says
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Jennifer in OR says
Mmmm…wow, that takes some courage, to be willing to be that vulnerable. Will be thinking on this, and praying. I have few friends I'd be willing to go there with. But I see the tremendous benefit and blessing–and biblical call to this kind of friendship.