In the first week of June we will see the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and many of us will get together to celebrate a life that has been dedicated to the service of her country.
Image by Prawny – Pixabay
It is interesting to look back at our own lives in terms of the service we have given to others. Much of this service is in the friendships we have and have had.
Our friends make our world. They are the sunshine in our lives and the jewels in our crowns. True friendship sees beyond gender, race, status, and age. Friendship reaches out a hand and touches someone’s heart.
A friend knows us as we are, understands where we have been, accepts what we have become and delights in watching us grow.
Friends are loyal. They have our backs and stand up for us when others attack. They become our chosen siblings and walk alongside us not only when life is good but also when it is tough.
True friendship is not always easy. It can confront us with parts of ourselves that we don’t like but, because we value the relationship so much, we dare to face ourselves and evolve. Indeed, when a friend comes into our lives and leaves a footprint on our hearts, we can be transformed. Without friendship we are poor. With it, we are rich.
In the end, we can live without many things, but we cannot survive without friendship. Solitary confinement is the worst torture that anyone can experience. Our friends are the soil we grow in, and they need tending with qualities such as love, compassion, forgiveness, and honesty. Friends thereby make us the best that we can be.
Image by Josefin – Unsplash
Friendship dissolves loneliness, doubles our happiness and halves our grief. As Kahlil Gibran says in The Prophet: “Your friend is your needs answered. He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving. And he is your board and your fireside. For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace.”
So let’s wish Her Majesty a week full of friendship, appreciation, and love, and to all of us a wonderful, friend-filled June. As the Girl Guide motto wisely says: “I have a hand, and you have another. Put them together and we have each other.”
Image by u_uf78c121 – Pixabay
Love Laurelle
