No, that’s not as in the stuff that rolls in over San Francisco Bay… F o G, as in Friend of God.
I was at a retirement party recently, and one speaker described the honoree as a “friend of God.” We like to be around friends of God, the speaker said; they help us deepen our own spiritual relationship by example and instruction.
I wrote more about this topic, today’s Lectionary readings, and gnostics today at Your Daily Tripod. But at this particular moment, I’m thinking more about whether I’m a friend of God’s. I know He thinks so, but do I treat Him as a friend when I encounter Him in others? I get impatient, and let it show. I bruise easily.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the Resurrection lately… both because of today’s readings and Thomas Merton’s No Man Is an Island, which I’m enjoying and hope to finish before the end of the next century. Maybe there’s a connection there. When Jesus was up on that cross, in this world, He was an island. But when He returned, He gave us the greatest gift of community ever. And none of us need ever be an island again, no matter how lousy a friend we may be to ours, ourselves, and God. He’s the kind of friend who welcomes a work in progress.
