Friends Make Old Friends

Gabriel Marcel believed that we become real only by "participating," that is, only in relationships.  We don't exist in solitude.  Our relationships are life.  In that we reflect God, who is trinitarian.  It makes sense:  love is about relationship.  A person (per-sona) is a giving voice to another, a muse or a spirit, in communication with another.  In being that voice of another we become real, take on a persona.  The Christian faith invites us to imitate Christ, the perfect man, to imbue his spirit, speak his life.  Christ's mission of love can be our vocation.

Not giving up on love is part of life's challenge.  After all, neither we or the ones we love are exactly perfect!

In a review of a book (A Life in Words) by French philosopher Alain Badiou the reviewer observed:

In In Praise of Love Badiou writes: "While desire focuses on the other, always in a somewhat fetishist[ic] manner, on [physical attributes of the beloved], "love focuses on the very being of the other, on the other as it has erupted, fully armed with its being, into my life that is consequently disrupted and re-fashioned."  (emphasis added)

In the end, love is about companionship that staves off loneliness.  Of course, lover and beloved have to respect each other's position. Friendship is not an exclusive coupling.  Willing the good of the other means loving faithfully, selflessly, aiding when needed, affirming, caring.  But the joy of loving is the very being of the other, i.e., to see with God-like eyes why He needed to create her (or him).  How few such relationships we have in our lives!  Yet we can create more with an attitude of charity and friendship, of welcoming and openness.