Friends

"In friendship . . . we think we have chosen our peers. In reality, a few years difference in the dates of our births, a few more miles between certain houses, the choice of one university instead of another. . . the accident of a topic being raised or not raised at a first meeting -- any of these chances might have kept us apart. But for a Christian, there are, strictly speaking, no chances. A secret Master of Ceremonies has been at work. Christ, who said to the disciple "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you," can truly say to every group of Christian friends, "Ye have not chosen one another but I have chosen you for one another." The friendship is not a reward for our discrimination and good taste in finding each another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals to each the beauties of others." (C.S. Lewis)

I'm quite sure I have posted this quote before, but it was long ago and it has been on my mind again lately. As I muse about my life, there are so many things that seem to have happened by chance, whether it is the fact of meeting someone that the likelihood of it happening seems low, the actuality of living somewhere seemingly completely foreign to you and your experience in life, or being able to find common ground with someone that truly surprises you. It's pretty amazing to find someone either a fair bit older than you or younger and become great friends. You wonder why would that be - after all, with an age difference that great, it probably shouldn't have happened.

The concept of the "Master of Ceremonies" is a sweet one to me -- because that's exactly what is in place. He is our Master, He does know us and love us, and He puts us in places where we can learn to know and love others.

And I am grateful.

photo by Greg Olsen