The Ground of Mystery

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        The nature of friendship seems to have shifted across the years. People we know at work who are acquaintances we casually refer to as friends probably due to the flux and flow of life. Truer friends typically come from our distant past; they may be far away and cherished. Of course, newly minted friendships can be as valuable as those bonded in childhood.
        "You'll make new friends and lose old ones," someone once said. "If you're really lucky, you'll have one true friend at the end."


A friend is someone we may pour out all the contents of our heart to, chaff and grain together. We know that the gentlest of hands will take and sift it, keeping what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away. ¹

The Ground of Mystery

Without friends the way is lorn.
A soulful necessity and misfortune's bulwark,
friendships make this journey worthwhile.
Friends' embrace is wealth, our spirit's balm.

True friendship is empathic.
Enduring through prosperous times and lean,
its strengths are sustenance,
understanding and acceptance.

Lasting friendships are rare.
Consideration and expression help maintain them;
a continuing--though not necessarily constant--effort,
like the dedication to a verdant garden.

The ground of friendship is a mystery.
The magnetic attraction of inner self to others is,
like the deepest love, priceless;
its gentle sunshine essential to health, to life.

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Copyright 2001, Gary Kline 469

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1 Adapted from "Arab proverb" in Zen Meditations: On Being a True Friend, p. 98. Sourcebooks, Inc, Naperville, IL, 2000.

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.	The nature of friendship seems to have shifted across the years. People we know at work who are acquaintances we casually refer to as friends probably due to the flux and flow of life. Truer friends typically come from our distant past; they may be far away and cherished. Of course, newly minted friendships can be as valuable as those bonded in childhood. "You'll make new friends and lose old ones," someone once said. "If you're really lucky, you'll have one true friend at the end." A friend is someone we may pour out all the contents of our heart to, chaff and grain together. We know that the gentlest of hands will take and sift it, keeping what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away. ¹ The Ground of Mystery Without friends the way is lorn. A soulful necessity and misfortune's bulwark, friendships make this journey worthwhile. Friends' embrace is wealth, our spirit's balm. True friendship is empathic. Enduring through prosperous times and lean, its strengths are sustenance, understanding and acceptance. Lasting friendships are rare. Consideration and expression help maintain them; a continuing--though not necessarily constant--effort, like the dedication to a verdant garden. The ground of friendship is a mystery. The magnetic attraction of inner self to others is, like the deepest love, priceless; its gentle sunshine essential to health, to life.	.