Maintaining Friendships

Scripture

There are “friends” who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother.

~Proverbs 18:24, NLT

Quote

“To have friends, you must be one.”

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Keller has eight habits to maintain good friendships but I think two are one in the same so I will share seven. [1] Don’t despise or look down on your friends or your potential friends. Sometimes our arrogance deceives us and we think our condescension is too subtle for our friends to recognize what is going on. [2] A way to overcome your tendency to feel superior to others is to be self-critical. Be harder on yourself than your friend. Give them the benefit of the doubt. [3] Choose your battles. Try to avoid arguments all together but don’t rant and rave. No one enjoys listening to a ranter. [4] Don’t be a busy body, don’t pry, don’t asks twenty questions. Mind your own business. If they have something they want to tell you they will open up eventually but leave the probing for the professionals. [5] Be careful about your humor. Some joking crosses the line and becomes cruel in nature. Humor is culturally variable: what is appropriate in one setting may be inappropriate in another. The safest thing to do is make yourself the butt of the joke but even self-depreciating jokes can backfire. [6] Don’t be contentious and argumentative. Solomon said, Fire goes out for lack of fuel, and tensions disappear when gossip stops. A quarrelsome man starts fights as easily as a match sets fire to paper. If you refuse to argue, there can be no argument. It is like taking the wood off the fire, it goes out. [7] Don’t be insulting. A mockers main currency is the insult which exaggerates or plays upon another person’s weakness or appearance. Witty put downs are entertaining to everyone except the one being put down.

Remember, these are Keller’s insights and not mine. Obviously, if I thought he was off base, I would not have shared them. When I read his devotions, I am convicted myself. I probably guilty of most of the above but as a general rule, all my friends are more intelligent than I am so looking down on them is not a problem. I have a couple that pretend to be dumb but that is a front: one lives in Athens and the other in Danville. Both are highly intelligent. I do know when someone is despising or looking down on me and they will never by my friend. I am sorry, but their arrogance offends me. I am some dumb but not plumb dumb.

Charlie Thompson had perked up a little yesterday, he talked to me a little. I didn’t check on old Gregg. I will do that a little later in the day. My doctor’s appointment went well. He and I had a good discussion about the virus and we didn’t come to an agreement. He did tell me to stay away from hospitals if at all possible. He did like my Trump cap and so did the nurses.

I did not know Ray Baker personally. Matter of fact, I did not know it was him who played the piano at Shirley’s COLS until someone told me. Our sympathy to his family. There is no question; these are difficult days. Personally, I hope you do not have a difficult day today but remember to pray for those who are having a hard day.

Ryder was telling me last night that he heard on the news that Pedophilia will be recognized as sexual preference. So LGBTQA will not become LGBTQA-P. In other words, they are going to sanction what Michael Jackson did. We all knew it was just a matter of time. I guess we are supposed to be tolerant of pedophiles now. No way Hosea!

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