The friends we love Off the Record Barbara Stinson Lee

Why is it that sometimes friends we hold near and dear to us just seem to wander away from us? We just don’t see them for a while, and all of a sudden we find ourselves missing them terribly.

I have a dear friend who lives in Phoenix. We’ve known each other since the first grade. Mary and her husband have always been so generous, opening their home to Jack and I when we were passing through Phoenix or letting me stay with them when I visit my mother, who lives nearby them.

Mary recently had surgery, and she is not up to visitors, and while I can call her anytime and e-mail her daily, I’m finding myself missing her terribly; the sound of her voice, her laugh, her great ideas for restaurants I’ve never eaten at.

Then there is the couple we seem to only run into when there’s some kind of charitable event. They’re very charitable, and I’m usually there to cover the event. It’s hard to realize you don’t really travel in the same circles as those friends you love.

When I think of friends who probably didn’t start out in the same circle, I think of Jesus and St. Peter. They were two very different men. Though Peter loved Jesus very much, and was devoted to him, he kept making terrible mistakes. He wanted to be near Jesus all the time, even unto death, but his human flaws led him to deny Jesus just when he needed him the most.

What is keeping us from reaching out to those people in whose circles we don’t move? What’s keeping us from making that fun phone call just to make the other person laugh?

Imagine how Peter must have felt the very next time his and Jesus’ eyes met? Was it on the road to Calvary, or in the upper room where the apostles were hiding after Jesus was crucified? When Jesus appeared in that upper room after his resurrection, what do you suppose Peter said? There’s nothing in the Scriptures that tells us if that moment was uncomfortable or not.

I would like to think Jesus and Peter met as though no time had passed between them; as if Peter’s denial was immediately forgiven, and no words about it were needed.

It’s time to remind ourselves that the distance between us and the friends we love is there because we put it there. We let the weeks go by without a call, and we’ve lost the art of writing notes and letters.

Jesus and Peter fished together, they walked together, and Jesus visited Peter’s home often. Peter failed miserably when it came to walking on water, but Jesus didn’t seem to mind. There was love between them.

If there’s love between us and our friends, time and shouldn’t get in the way.