|
"Friendship is always a sweet
responsibility,
never an opportunity."
~ Kahil Gibran
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Free
Upgrade
A good friend recently asked
me how many “good friends” I have. I hesitated, wondering
how many of my fingers and toes I might need. I started to mumble about
“lots of connections and acquaintances and colleagues.” And
he exposed the proverbial sword of Damocles swinging over my head.
“Why not give everyone a
free upgrade?” he asked.
For weeks I’ve been
thinking about it. Why not? Why must a person meet certain criteria to
be my “friend” or my “good friend” or my
“dear friend”?
Grace would offer everyone the
free upgrade whether they ask for it or not and perhaps let them grow
into the relationship. That’s what Jesus did. Shortly before His
crucifixion He declared to the disciples, “I have called you
friends.” (John 15:15) And He generously included Judas (soon to
betray Him), Peter (soon to deny Him), and all the other disciples
(soon to abandon Him).
Perhaps that’s what
Jesus had in mind when He says “Love your enemies.”
(Matthew 5:44) We offer a free upgrade, whether it’s received or
not, because that’s what the Father offers us every day. We look
past the foibles and failures of others and refuse to let their weaknesses
(or our own) define our relationship.
Ironically, I had lunch again
this week with my good friend and he described how he offended his
step-mom recently by describing her as a “client.” He had
asked her for feedback on her recent experience as a hospital patient
because he’s designing a new piece of equipment for hospital
rooms. He thought she should feel delighted to be his personal
“focus group.” But she was not impressed. I suggested that
perhaps she didn’t warm to the free downgrade to
“client” status.
What might happen if we
upgraded each other as readily as the Father upgrades us from strangers
to family, and from enemies to sons and daughters?
Perhaps we’d need more
than fingers and toes to keep count. And the sword of Damocles –
the ever-present fear (of being isolated and alone) – would
recede.
Grace. No strings attached. A
free upgrade. Life. It’s worth a shot!
In HOPE –
David
|
