Closeness

The two giant horses work in perfect unison, guiding each other around tight turns and reassuring each other lest they step off of the well-packed trail and sink up to their bellies in the February snow. Given their weight and the fact that they are hitched to a sleigh capable of carrying twenty people, such an occurrence might result in serious injury, not to mention the fear it would inject into the heart of the third member of the team: Tony.

The deep affection among this threesome is obvious. While Dolly and Queenie are sisters and Tony is owner/driver, the three are friends and depend upon each other without reservation.

It is this observation that is prompting my thoughts.

Friendship is a subject I think a great deal about. Common goals and interests, dependence upon one another, security and ease in each other’s presence, affection, admiration, closeness. It’s hard to adequately define the parameters of friendship.

I guess that is one of the things that captivated me about the relationship between Dolly, Queenie, and Tony. Their friendship was readily apparent.

Galatians 6:2 comes to mind: “Bear one another’s burdens.” That is an aspect of friendship.

For Dolly, the horse most fearful of stepping off of the edge, Queenie turned steady and kept her head close to Dolly’s. Proverbs says, “A friend loves at all times and a brother is born for adversity” (17:17).

On the straight roads, Queenie tended to daydream, but Dolly’s relentless work ethic kept them pulling together evenly. The Bible is filled with friendships that focused the friends’ energies into combined strengths that were not individually possible.

Who can argue with the influence Jonathan had on David? Had it not been for Andrew bringing his brother to Jesus there might never have been an Apostle Peter. James and John were more than brothers.

These friendships enabled each individual to be a finer man than he would have been by himself.

Next thought on friendship regard standing together…