Friendship (2)

It is interesting to observe how friendships come and go.  Some friends I've known casually for years, then something threw or drew us closer together and I suddenly found a friendship where there was for so long merely an acquaintance.  I have friends who to begin with were only 'my sister's friend' when we were children and youths, but time and/or geography have forged a friendship of our own.  Facebook has re-introduced friends from years ago, but in many cases has actually outlined how far apart we can become.  Not that either has taken a bad direction, but merely that there is no commonality to recreate a bond.  It is interesting to see what they're up to, but there is no cause to strike up a conversation.  Some friends have been very close for a short period of time, and number among the oases in the desert of loneliness that used to exist, but our paths have since diverged, and contact is rare.  Perhaps we'll never meet again, but that's okay.  Perhaps we will meet again, and that friendship may begin again, or even take off from where it was left; some friendships do that.  Then again, it might not, but that's okay too.  Friendship is sweet, but turns sour when you cling too tight.
I won't deny that I have a great need for solid friendship - we were, after all, created for companionship - but my early friendships were filled with my need for them, my wish that they would like me best, that they would fulfill my need...entirely selfish, which is why I had to learn to be a friend, as well as learn to find my fulfillment and completion in my Lord Jesus Christ.
Some friendships aren't really friendships at all.  There is no bond.  They are simply the result of two people (sometimes with practically nothing in common) being thrown together for a while by circumstances and responding amicably.  They may be the best option for companionship at that time.  Once the circumstances change, the ways part and little more is thought of it.
I find the most amazing friendships are the ones that spring up suddenly out of nowhere.  Within days of meeting a person properly for the first time, a bond is created, and within only weeks you wonder what life was like without it.  This has happened to me more than once, and I find it wonderfully astonishing.
And then there are the friendships that go deep, but one side grows and matures faster than the other, or only one gets married and into all that entails, and the common ground is lost - or perhaps more accurately, the one left behind can't quite find the right communication channel.  Somehow that bond remains, the friendship is still cherished, occasional meetings are warm though brief.  Until the one who was left behind catches up...or finds the right wavelength.
My favourite quote about friendship is: "Friends are those people who walk into our life and find a home in our heart."