Midweek Musing: on friendship
Some time back I recorded a video for a worship event. In the end, it wasn't used - time, changing ideas - but it has come to mind with the visit of friends to Edinburgh, friends both individually and as part of the collaborative friendship I have with Blackwood Uniting Church in Adelaide.
20 years of friendship. We had laughed over a joke, then realised, yes, we have been friends for about 20 years. Members of the same community of faith (although I have been by distance for a while), we have prayed together, sung together, laughed and dreamed and mourned together.
Early on, there was a road trip to Melbourne for a music and worship workshop weekend. Over the years there has been affirmation and encouragement in the various ways we offer our gifts to the community - my ordination, her stepping back for a season - conversations of openness and friendship. Now, she is a champion for me as a ministry project for our community of faith, encouraging their support for one of their own, gathering them around me so that I am not alone.
Friendship with a community of faith includes the specific and particular friendships between individual members. This one has ebbed and flowed, as friendships do; in this moment, I am glad to remember and give thanks for the collective friendship with Blackwood Uniting Church, and with its individual members.
Early on, there was a road trip to Melbourne for a music and worship workshop weekend. Over the years there has been affirmation and encouragement in the various ways we offer our gifts to the community - my ordination, her stepping back for a season - conversations of openness and friendship. Now, she is a champion for me as a ministry project for our community of faith, encouraging their support for one of their own, gathering them around me so that I am not alone.
Friendship with a community of faith includes the specific and particular friendships between individual members. This one has ebbed and flowed, as friendships do; in this moment, I am glad to remember and give thanks for the collective friendship with Blackwood Uniting Church, and with its individual members.
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