April 2010 The Road to Daybreak A Spiritual Journey by Henri J M Nouwen

Struggling with the Nature of Friendship Continue from ...... Second, I learned afresh that friendship requires a constant willingness to forgive each other for not being Christ and a willingness to ask Christ himself to be the true centre. When Christ does not meditate a relationship, that relationship easily becomes demanding, manipulating, oppressive, an arena for many forms of rejection. An unmediated friendship cannot last long; you simply expect too much of the other and cannot offer the other the space he or she needs to grow. Friendship requires closeness, affection, support, and mutual encouragement, but also distance, space to grow, freedom to be different, and solitude. To nurture both aspects of a relationship, we must experience a deeper and more lasting affirmation than any human relationship can offer. As we struggled with the true nature of our friendship, Jonas and I read Paul's words to the Romans: "We know that by turning everything to their good, God cooperates with all those who love him, with all those whom he has called according to his purpose … those he called he justified, and with those he justified he shared his glory" (Romans 8:28-30).

- To Be Continued - © Copyright Shalom 2010. All rights reserved.