A true friend is someone who has seen us at our worst and still loves us. If you have encountered me only on my best days, I have no guarantee that you are my friend. But when you have dealt with me when I am most obnoxious and you still love me, then I am sure that you are my friend.
The old Gospel song that says, “What a friend we have in Jesus” is not pious sentimentalism; it is the heart of the matter. What the first Christians saw in the dying and rising of Jesus is that we killed God, and God returned in forgiving love. He saw us at our very worst and loved us anyway. Thus, they saw confirmed in flesh and blood what Jesus had said the night before he died:
I no longer call you slaves. . . . I have called you friends. John 15:12–17
Thank you, Lord, for showing us through the Paschal Mystery that we have been shown a new way and are drawn into a new life, a life of friendship with God.
Smitten With Goodness 