For Anne

My friend Anne died recently and as I prepare myself for her funeral I begin to think about the nature of our Friendship.

We were friends for almost 50 years. There are people who have been your friend for most of your life. These are the precious few who have shaped your life from within. Some seem to have been sent into your life to enliven, brighten and accept you without judgement. Sometimes, of course, they lovingly correct you! These are the friends with whom you share the deep gift of love in a harmony which somehow fulfils what it means to be truly human. There is a one-ness in which delight flourishes and also where honesty and truth play a part which is invaluable and open and kindly meant.
This feels to me to be a gift of God who is, of course the ‘friend’ who reflects all friendship.
It’s as if God shares His DNA in a very special way.
Amongst such friends there is a deepness of spirit through which they share in your very being and indeed, it is their love and friendship which makes that ‘being’ wonderfully unique.
They are not a ‘part’ of your life. They are an ingredient which makes your life complete and fulfilled. They are, in fact, God’s pure gift to you through whom He reveals you as you truly are.

In such a friendship the divine and human spark together and brings to birth the Godly specialness which makes you and your friend truly icons of the Incarnation. They share in that pilgrimage which leads you both closer to the nature of God, who out of sheer love was born in human form and likeness. Jesus, born in our midst, spoke profoundly of the nature of friendship as a sign of God’s care, love, and acceptance and of His desire that our lives become imitations of His. True friendship is when people can look into each other’s eyes and immediately see a reflection of God mirrored  in the soul.

My dear friend, Anne, was and is such a person. I thank God for her love for me and for others who have been changed, loved and accepted by her, in God’s holy Name.

Mr. G.
30th August 2025

Jesus said, “I have called you friends” (John 15:15)