Monday, February 18, 2008

Friends and Friendship

It has been said that man is a social being.

Quite often, this statement has come with the qualification that in order to survive, man requires others so as to acquire from them what he cannot get on his own.

In recent times past, I have come to be exposed, initially through formal lesson, but fundamentally through experience, that whilst the statement remains true, the qualification does a great injustice to it.

I am not a social being merely because for bread I need a baker, for beer I need a brewer or for meat I need a butcher, for though these I may need, I am social because in a friend we, together and individually, find fulfillment in each other - in helping, supporting, and sharing tears and laughter the heart grows unceasingly. And truly the love that it bears cannot be borne in it alone, and must be shared, for it feels as though the heart would burst in excess of it.

For the father - a loving wife and needing children, for the mother - a loving husband and desiring children, for the children - guiding parents and many playmates. For each man, woman and child - a sea of love in the eyes of another, a cushion of tears on the shoulder of a friend, the silence of a listening confidant, a congratulations' pat from a partner, an opportunity to help in a trusting other, and a toast to life in the smile of life - our friends.

To Friends and Friendship!
To Our Friends!

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