As I sat in a hospital’s cafeteria waiting for a ride home, an older person came to talk to me. After the initial chat was out of the way, he proceeded to tell me that I would go to jail for stealing. In jail, all the other women will pull my hair and fight against me. If this wasn’t enough he said that a second neighboring jail full of women, they would come and fight...
In John 15:1-17, Jesus talks about “bearing fruit” and “friendship.” This is a reflection on the meaning of “bearing fruit” in Scripture, the ways in which John innovates a relationship between fruit, friendship, and death in this passage, and an argument about the counter-intuitive places I think we should look for friendship in Scripture. Bearing Fruit in Scripture The Man and Woman in the garden are given the vocation to “be fruitful and multiply” at...
I love thinking about friendship. Even more, I love having friends. In my most recent reading of Augustine’s Confessions, I couldn’t help but notice the respectable bishop seemed to share some of my feelings of longing and affection when it comes to possessing and enjoying the good of friendship. Though Augustine never wrote a treatise on friendship, scholars generally consider Augustine as the first to seriously consider the role of friendship in the Christian life....
Happiness on earth, friends, only stems from war! Powder smoke, in fact, mends friendship even more! One in three all friends are: Brothers in distress, equals facing rivals, free men – facing death! In this text, Nietzsche begins with an assertion that war is the only source of happiness. Then, after claiming that the action of war only enriches friendship, he parodies the Aristotelian tradition by listing three ascending levels of friendship that are affected...
In 1985, drawing heavily both from Jeremy Taylor’s “Discourse on Friendship” and his own personal experience, the Episcopalian English professor, Travis DuPriest, argued that “Christian unity begins in friendship.” Why is this worth knowing? For one thing, it’s happening. For another, it is true to who we are, both as humans and as humans united to Christ. Trans-denominational Friendship: It’s happening On his Sabbatical tour de three countries, DuPriest enjoyed a remarkably diverse experience of hospitality...
So many of us are lonely. Modern Western culture — Christian and not — has all but lost its rich heritage of friendship. Below is my first try at writing out an idea I call “Covenantal Friendship.” I wrote this piece to get out of an assignment for a seminary counseling course. I’d treasure your feedback. What’s Wrong? In a 2011 address to the Biola University student body, Dr. Matt Jenson argued, “The Church is...
Last Friday, I had the awesome opportunity to speak in Biola’s undergraduate chapel about my thesis on shame and how it affects our relationships with God and others. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to share about what I’ve learned about shame and grace, and also my own struggle with shame and depression, and the hope and healing that I’ve found in my life through community. It all came about quite organically and it was...
Yesterday, in honor of the martyrdom of St. Valentine, I hosted a dinner party with a few of my girl friends. It was a good time of delicious food and engaging conversation. While Valentine’s Day can be S.A.D. (Singles Awareness Day), I wanted to celebrate the holiday in the truest fashion with having a feast day celebrating St. Valentine, as was the origins of the holiday on the liturgical calendar. While romantic love is often...
Don’t ever condemn someone to the “friend zone.” If you do, that person will become a stripper. That’s the moral of the stage musical Rock of Ages, which some of my co-bloggers and I caught during a weekend trip to Las Vegas last month. The first act launches a love story between Drew, a busboy who dreams of being a rock star, and Sherrie, an aspiring actress who’s just moved to Hollywood. The two form...
I’m currently studying the book of Ruth with a small group at my church. I have to honestly admit that after finishing my seminary degree last year, that I hadn’t really studied the Bible in-depth until we started studying this book together. Studying the Bible in community really does bring a freshness to the text, as I hear and engage with other people’s thoughts and questions, which also spur on my own inquiry and contemplation....
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