Mark and Tom were “best buds” all through High School. They played football together. They hung out together, double-dated, and seemed inseparable. They couldn’t imagine being apart, so they decided to be roommates in college. The only problem was, they had never spent the night in the same room, and it turns out Tom had a terrible snoring problem. It was awful. The walls would shake, and Mark was certain the next breath would be Tom’s last. Poor Mark couldn’t get any sleep. After the first week, people were beginning to think Mark was a druggie. His eyes were red. He was falling asleep in class. He had no energy and looked terrible.
Finally, one night as he was lying awake staring at the ceiling while Tom “sawed logs,” Mark had an idea. He pulled back his covers, tiptoed over to Tom’s bed, bent down and gave him a big smoochy kiss, then sprang back into his bed as Tom sat bolt upright – and watched Mark sleep like a baby all night long.
Friends. They’re great. C.S. Lewis once observed, “Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather, it is one of those things that give value to survival.” Lovers see each other face-to-face while friends stand shoulder to shoulder.
However, it seems to be an unhappy fact of life that in our mobile, rush-rush society, friendship is either superficial or non-existent, and that may be one of the great tragedies of our time.
Don’t you remember having a “best friend” in school or a buddy in the service? Do you remember laughing, working, telling stories, and helping one another? But often, something gets in the way. We go off to school or get married or invest in our careers, and friendships get sacrificed or grow cold.
Well, it’s time for that to change! It’s time to focus on friends and revive relationships. Let’s make some new friends and invest in old ones!