I'll be there for you...

Firstly, many apologies for the ridiculously large period of time between this blog and the last one. I have no excuses, I just haven't written 'til now. There is no deeply philosophical or theological reason for not writing it. I just haven't.

This rambling array of my ponderings has been stewing for some time though and has been fueled even more after the events of this 'summer' - a term I grudgingly use to describe the season just past in spite of the weather.

I have been lucky (or fortunate or whatever the 'Christian' alternative to lucky is) this summer in that I have been away a few times. I spent good times back in Geneva and had the privilege of returning to Le Pas Opton, the site of Spring Harvest Holidays. These were very different times - Geneva included among other things a weekend music festival, LPO was its usual unique blend of the sublime and the ridiculous.

However, it was not the location that made this summer memorable. It was the people. A combination of old friends and new friends. I've reminisced with people I've known for ages and share countless experiences with. I somehow slotted into a team of people I had known for a short time and some I'd never met before. I've had deep and meaningful conversations. I've had good meals with good people and endured the most hideous sausage casserole ever created. I've played football with lads as close to me as brothers and sang duets with beautiful girls I love dearly. I've had laughs, I've shared tears, I've hugged, I've nearly killed; it has been an awesome summer of people.

Which has led me to wonder - What is it that makes people just seem to click?

They* say opposites attract, and yet I'm now really close friends with someone who is so remarkably like me it's often quite freaky.

They* say that the strongest of friendships are forged in the toughest of intense environments.

They* say that wounds from a friend can be trusted.

I wish I had the answer to why some friendships last and why some dissolve before your very eyes; why someone you've known for a relatively short period of time can seem closer than one you've known for years.

Is it time?
Is it communication?
Is it personality?
Is it intimacy?

Who knows?!

All I do know is this; that dotted around the world right now are people who I have had the pleasure of knowing in a whole range of different circumstance and now gladly call friends.

A good friend of mine once said "put your life on the line for your friends." There is a group of people who I would, without hesitation, put my life on the line for them.

Friends come and friends go, but a true friend sticks by you closer than family. (Proverbs 18:24)
That's the kind of friends I want to have,

and more to the point...

That's the kind of friend I want to be.

*Sidenote: I'd love to meet whoever They are!