Known By Dick And Ruth FothSample

Relationship Is King

The world of technology and social media can present itself in an alluring way, but it often gives me more than I want and less than I need. It offers me a lot of things and takes me a lot of places. But, to paraphrase Shakespeare, “Wide is easy, like the wind; deep is hard to find.” That intimate cyber world takes me wide. It rarely takes me deep. Deep doesn’t just happen. So where do I go to find deep?

Ruth and I believe that if you value relationships above all, everything else follows. Each of us has the need not just to connect but the need to engage. We discover ourselves as we discover each other. We love to have wings, but we also need roots. Friendship can deliver both wings and roots.

In Ecclesiastes, we read that when two or three walk together, it’s the best. In that spirit, as you hike trails or take road trips, gather in twos and threes for serious talk or a screaming football afternoon, have a hot beverage while munching on a Cinnabon or gluten-free something, maybe a few of those relationships will get tagged with that wonderful word, friend.

The Greek philosopher Aristotle said it well: “Friendship is a kind of excellence and furthermore is very necessary for living.” Above all, friendship does not depend on sameness. It is way more than hanging out with folks of common origin or religion or personality. Friendship—true, deep friendship—is based on commitment, on that mutual choice to walk with a person through whatever comes. A lasting friend is someone who knows you, supports you, and—perhaps especially-—challenges you. A lasting friend, at the end of the day, is quite simply there.

How have you seen friendships in your life give you both roots and wings?