by Patricia Gilliam

Created on: March 02, 2008

"Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls for he has no one to help him up." (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, New King James Version)

The relationship between friends can be a very powerful thing. A solid friendship can get each individual person through situations that would be extremely difficult to deal with on his or her own.

In relation to this verse, the pastor at our church shared a very interesting fact about pack animals. Often times a single animal can carry a certain amount of weight on their own. When you group two together however, the result is that they can pull more than double the weight. They are physically able to do more together than apart.

When it comes to people, we have the ability to develop friendships and help each other not just physically but emotionally. Life is tough sometimes, and it's important to have people in your life that you care about and that care about you. Friendships can develop out of all kinds of circumstances, but what they all have in common is a bond to the point you where you want to look out for the other person.

There are hundreds of sayings out there written about friendship, and it's difficult to narrow it down to just a few for discussion. They range from the humorous such as, "Love is blind. Friendship just tries really hard not to notice," to the profound such as, "Treat people the way they ought to be, and you'll help them become what they are capable of being.(Goethe)"

If you look at all of these sayings as a whole, you'll find the traits of friendship that are basically timeless. Here are just a few of them that I noticed:

1) Friends share happiness, joy, and laughter.
2) Friends are there for each other during hard circumstances.
3) Real friends are honest.
4) Friendships are developed over time.
5) Friends will help you even when it's inconvenient for them.
6) The foundation of friendship is love.
7) Friendship carries a similar bond and responsibility as relationship with blood-related family members.
8) Life is much easier with friends than being isolated and alone.
9) Friends encourage each other and celebrate the successes of each other.
10) Friendship is two-directional, with both individuals helping each other in some way.

Overall I believe the lessons of these sayings are that we all need to do our best to be good friends on our end of relationships and appreciate the friends that we have. The relationships are valuable, and no matter how busy and fast-paced our lives are, we need to remember that.

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