Friendship

I just bought a new pair of running shoes, but not for running.  They are multicolored and quite beautiful.  I will wear them to show off.  Yes, bad priest.  But the shoes remind me of friendship.  Though the shoes are multi-colored, no one color stands out.  But all the colors come together to make one beautiful design.  The colors mix and weave among each other.  From a distance, the shoes might look all the same color.  Up close you see the differences.  I think of friendship and community as like my shoes.  In friendship, everyone is equal and mixes well together.  No one dominates.  Differences yes, but differences are essential to the overall beauty so long as no one type dominates.  From a bit of a distance away,  a group of friends looks like a community of one, somewhat the same, as in the way they treat one another.  But up close you see the differences and such differences meld together to make a beautiful whole.  In a hierarchical, corporate, government, military structure you do not have this.  It is rare to be true friends with your boss, the person who signs your check or works for you.  Friends are not on guard about anything.  Jesus said, “I call you friends.”  I like that.