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Good morning to you.Ìý Today two friends are staying with us.Ìý One, I’ve known on and off for well over 40 years, the other only maybe for ten.Ìý It’s interesting to reflect on the ways various friendships begin, and how they persist – or, in some cases, don’t!Ìý You’ll probably be able to think of the story of a friendship of your own.Ìý Shared interests can be important, as indeed can be shared values, but neither of these is vital.Ìý Often we’re hard put to it to explain precisely why a friendship is formed, or why it ‘works’ year after year.Ìý It’s one of the real joys of life to know and be known well enough to feel comfortable together even if there’ve been months or years of separation.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

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Because of what I believe about God, revealed in Jesus Christ, it’s clear to me that we are created for relationship.Ìý After all, the idea of three persons of the Trinity is an attempt to express how fundamental is relationship in the heart of God.Ìý When we say we are created in the image of God, we must therefore be declaring that the heart of our humanity is also in relationship.Ìý Friendship isn’t the only way we express this, but it has to be one of the most important.Ìý No law can demand friendship.Ìý Nobody can insist on being my friend.Ìý

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Sharing the story of our lives with our friends is a precious gift.Ìý There will be moments of shared joy, and moments of shared pain, and the more we are able to entrust friends with our deepest thoughts, the more likely it is that a friendship will last.

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We give thanks, Lord, for our friends.Ìý Help us to celebrate our friendships and to value them today and every day.Ìý Amen.