January 2025

Reflections on Friendship

Men's Time Topic Discussion for Tuesday, May 3rd at 9:30am Pacific.

Dear Gentlemen of the Village! It is May, 2022! We are nearing the halfway mark of 2022! “Tempus Fugit!” It will soon be summer. The fledgling sparrows in our window nest will soon be on their own! The parents will soon be done with the life support activities that filled their days, and will fly free until next year’s cycle. Once again the miracle of egg-fertilization, the hatching of new life, and the parental care cycle has occurred, and we watched it with honor, respect, and radical amazement! I hope you had a similar miracle happen in your life! We feel blessed that we were chosen!

But you all have been blessed with another miracle, that of friendship! It is one of the gifts that humankind has cherished since he was only grunting and searching for signs that let him more fully express what he was feeling, satisfaction with a full stomach, amazement at the sights and sounds of a summer thunder storm, fear of the roaming dinosaurs, pleasure of the warmth of the cave. He continued to enlarge his language so he might share his life and growth with his newfound friend.

Friendship comes in many forms, from unknown, as the professional golfer who on TV gives us the pleasure of watching a -7 round, to the nurse who gives warm, supportive care to our loved ones in the emergency room, to the guy with whom we went to kindergarten and whom we call each birthday and Christmas. And then there is the “best friend” with whom we share all the pleasures and mysteries of our life. And then there is our partner with whom we share our very life, love, support, and care.

We don’t always give adequate attention to the value of friendship and what it means to us, and how it fills our life with meaning, and purpose, satisfaction, joy, and comfort. But today we’re going to think about the varieties of friendship and share some of our experiences with friendship, present and past, close and distant.

Tell us how friendship has enriched your life!

John Tuite