Soul Friend
“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.” – Proverbs 17:17
Dear Friends,
One of the greatest gifts of summer is the opportunity to spend time with friends and family that our everyday lives and the seasons of shoveling snow, spring cleaning and falling back to school don’t often allow.
While I’m away these two weeks, I’ve been spending time with family and friends, connecting and re-connecting and it is a true joy.
And so I’d like to offer to you a Blessing, written by John O’Donohue. It ends with an unfamiliar pair of words to our English ears “anam cara” – which is the Celtic concept of a soul friend. What an idea that is. That we could have someone who knows our hearts and our souls, someone we are knit together with through circumstance and spirit in such a way that our gathering together is a blessing to the both of us, and also to the people around us.
I pray that for you, you can have a soul friend, or multiple. And that if you do not have someone that you can imagine in this light… that you would be open to the gifting of God, and to another, and that you might discover this gift.
For Friendship – John O’Donohue
May you be blessed with good friends,
And learn to be a good friend to yourself,
Journeying to that place in your soul where
There is love, warmth, and feeling.
May this change you.
May it transfigure what is negative, distant,
Or cold within your heart.
May you be brought into real passion, kindness,
And belonging.
May you treasure your friends.
May you be good to them, be there for them
And receive all the challenges, truth, and light you
need.
May you never be isolated but know the embrace
Of your anam cara.
Welcoming You to Grow in Jesus – one soul friend at a time,
Pastor Don