"Old Friends"

In the last two weeks I have reconnected with three different sets of
friends from differing chapters in my life. And each was surrounded
by food and conversation for an extended time, not the grab and go we
so often call connection. Grateful sharing and attentive listening were
always present. This has become a rarity in our oft over busy lives, so
much so that when it does happen, it is like the clean, cold air that strikes
your face on a dry winter day. One knows at once that something different
is coming into your life, something too often lost.

Our lives are so hungry for this kind of communication and connection
with others. Being with old friends is like snuggling into you favorite chair.
You are at once totally comfortable and comforted. I am reminded of a concept
in the lines of T. S. Eliot's play "The Cocktail Party" - the true essence of
friendship is present when after a time apart old friends meet again and you
just pick up where you left off as if no time has passed at all.

That is precisely how I feel about these "old friends" with whom I have shared
more than a meal, more than a hurried moment. We have shared a Eucharistic
Moment, at one with one another. I am grateful for these moments.


R