A few weeks ago I discovered a powerful, prolific early teacher in the Christian Church, St. John Chrystostom, whose influence is still felt in the liturgies of Byzantine Catholic and Orthodox services.
In the following excerpt he pinpoints friendship as a sort of lens that clarifies and enhances the rest of life.
“Such is friendship, that through it we love places and seasons; for as bright bodies emit rays to a distance, and flowers drop their sweet leaves on the ground around them, so friends impart favor even to the places where they dwell. With friends even poverty is pleasant. Words cannot express the joy which a friend imparts; they only can know who have experienced. A friend is dearer than the light of heaven, for it would be better for us that the sun were exhausted than that we should be without friends.”
-St. John Chrysostom
I love this, as it seems to speak to a deep and intense quality of relationship – something that gives perspective to the inevitable challenges we all face.
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