New ways of friendship

Today the heavens have opened up and the tears are falling with continuous rain. While for me this is a great chance for the body temperature to drop, skin to take a break from the heat. It reminds me a little of the weather from the land I came from. 

This week I have been highly aware of the distance between me and other lands. The prospect of moving miles away at times brings a sort of grief. I knew before I left New Zealand this was the feeling, then again a small little part of me felt this way when leaving Australia. 

It took me a while to name what brought on this sense of lost, as an introverted person, anticipating the loss of friendships I had built over the time present was deeply painful. Apart of me naturally feared losing the proximity that wove my life into the fabric of others. I guess the unknown distance would unavoidably change, or even end, some relationships. I was, in many ways ready for a new adventure, but the thought of starting over relationally was a heavy weight in my heart. 

I remember when leaving New Zealand, my friends words brought a lot of comfort and sort of realising that the Lord work is present even with miles of ocean, many different lands between us. 

“K, while our relationship will change, distance brings this, does not mean that it is any less rich. We find new ways of communicating and journeying together” 

Reality is that sometimes in the time of text message replace dialog, conversations in person seem to hold a higher value. The investment of time has borne abundant fruit in all my relationships. I’m realising though that even through text over islands and between oceans, friendships have grown stronger. While other relationships have slowly ebbed into the backdrop of my life, and new ones have surged forward as I embrace the ‘new’; those friendships remain anchors deep in my heart. Friendships is a point of continuity, bridging not just the distance between our geographical locations, but also the passage of time that flows so swiftly. 

I remember this story from an elder once… goes like this. 

One day a man sees the sun setting and decided that his fortune lies where the sun touches the land. He sets off towards it. He walks and walks and walks, and after a long time he arrives back in the village where he started. He has travelled the globe but when his friends ask him to describe the wonders of the world he is unable to reply, for his eyes have been blinded by the sun. 

It reminds me of the saying that I was gifted when launching into the deep and slowly realise the depth of it - Its not the destination, rather its the journey.  Remembering the journey and forgetting the arrival. Otherwise it is possible to be blinded too, and will grow old wondering where life has gone. You realise you have have spent all your life planning for a future that never happened. Find happiness now, and if you happen to find true happiness it will be doubled beyond your making.