Friendship, by Guilt or Grace

Some people, I think, are naturally good at having friends and keeping friendships alive even when time, space, and life circumstances change. Others aren’t. And I’m definitely in the second category – I’ve written quite a bit over the past few years about how many friends have dropped by the wayside in my life, either because I graduated or moved or changed churches or just got a different job with a different schedule. It’s something I’ve often felt guilty about (women, after all, are supposed to be good at friendship, right?), and something I think about frequently, but without a lot of conclusions.

So, Jessica Griffith’s piece “Friendship, by Guilt or Grace” at Good Letters today really hit home with me, and maybe it will with you too:

There really is an unseen love that tends us through the hands of others, and it works even through fatally flawed, self-centered, and guilt-ridden creatures like me who fail a thousand times. I understand that friendship, far from cloying, shallow, and sweet, is another mystery, another place where God surprises us.