I ran into an old friend this past Saturday. We happened to both be visiting the same person in the hospital. Having not seen each other for several years, as you might expect, we had some catching-up to do.  The conversation covered the territory of church life, jobs gained and lost, surgeries endured, contentments and frustrations, braggings about the kids, and all those events that make up life.

After about a half-hour or so, we decided that we had stood in the sun long enough and called it quits. It was good to see him, but I don’t know when I will see him again. We made no plans, didn’t say, “we need to get together for lunch.” Neither was there any awkwardness in the conversation, no lulls, or struggle for energy to keep the talk going. We simply said goodbye and walked in different directions to our cars, symbolic of the different directions that our lives have taken.

I read recently of a study that demonstrated that, on average, the identity of our closest friends changes by half every seven years. I understand that to mean that, if we have, let’s say, eight close friends, in seven years, four of them will be replaced by four new ones. The old ones will have taken on a new status, much like my old friend. For those who are resistant to the claims of the study, who say that they have always had the same set of friends, remember that the study is not a rule, simply an observation. Surely I am not the only one who is not as close to some folks as I once was.

Actually, I am encouraged by this realization. It reminds me that the world is larger than I sometimes think it is; that there are still new people who are waiting to be met who can become close companions on this journey of life; that heading in a different direction with our lives can open new doors to beneficial relationships.

Most of all, this experience reminds me that God is still at work in our lives. Even though I had not seen this old friend in awhile, I had not forgotten the blessing of his life. To encounter him again was to give thanks to God for sending him in the first place. To walk in a different direction was to celebrate God’s leading in each of our lives. To head back toward life as it is now is to rejoice in God’s presence in our present relationships, to remember that the circle of God’s family can grow every day. I give thanks to God for friends old and new, for the grace of heaven that makes all these relationships possible.

Blessings, Sam