Tuesday, February 25, 2020: Sirach 8 & 9 – Part III
A Prayer for Friends and Friendship
![friendship013[1]](https://thenoontimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/friendship0131.gif?w=300&h=285)
The wisdom of Proverbs and Sirach may be dismissed as childish or old-fashioned, but this week we have seen the depth and breadth of their astuteness and their keen understanding of human nature. Today we see these verses as a welcome counterpoint to the material world and its headlong rush to acquire all that is new; we strive to keep all things in balance: Spurn not the discourse of the wise, but acquaint yourself with their proverbs; from them you will acquire the training to serve you in the presence of princes. Reject not the wisdom of the old ones which they have learned from their elders; from it you will obtain the knowledge how to answer in time of need. (Sirach 8:8-9)
In our modern age of hyper-communication we might draw into ourselves in fear as we hear constant news of conflict and violence. We may be tempted to look at all that is wrong and forget to look for all that is right with the world. Anxiety may outweigh optimism. Fear may trump trust. Self-protection and avoidance of vulnerability may outweigh our courage to enter into friendship with sincerity and integrity. If this is so, and if the familiar stories in scripture do not inspire us, we will want to return to the wisdom captured by Jesus ben Sirach, for he has much to offer us.
And so we pray in gratefulness for our true friends and in thanksgiving for the presence of Christ in our lives . . .
Good and gracious God, I thank you for the true friendship you have shared with me in the person of my friends. Keep me ever aware of their value. Remind me to thank them often. Guide me in returning their nurturing care of my humanity. Help me to recognize their divinity, just as these true friends affirm my divinity when I reflect you to them. Thank you for adopting me as your daughter. Remind me often that I am a citizen of the next world rather than one of this. Give me the patience to wait while the wine of relationships ages. I ask this in Jesus’ name, together with the friendship of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Let us give thanks today for the gift of friendship.
Image from: http://www.cherrybam.com/friendship-quotes.php
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