Between two friends there is always the reality of the Friend, Christ, who calls himself our friend. ‘I call you servants no longer (Jn 15:15),’ Jesus said at the Last Supper. ‘I don’t call you servants anymore. I call you friends because I have shown you everything I have learned from my Father.’ (Jn 15:15-17) So friendship for Aelred is this complete transparency, there’s complete openness and trust between two people. But he recognises that this takes time to develop – so, gradual and sudden. Sometimes we notice, we become aware, that in certain friendships or relationships there is this potential for deepening trust and openness and transparency. And the gift of oneself of course is involved in this. But it takes time and Aelred kind of wisely says you have to give it time, don’t be impatient.
( Enlightenment by Laurence Freeman OSB )
