The Earth is home to all creation, to be lovingly cared for by us in communion with the Divine Friend. Praises be to the Creator of the cosmos! With grateful hearts, let us give thanks! What other return can we give to the One, Who continues to gift us with life? When we open our heart to the Friend, when we live with compassion and kindness, we walk in beauty! We come to know the Divine Guest, Whose companioning Presence is ever with us.
"What begins in a search through nothingness for God and for meaning ends in friendship. In our surrender we come to know God as friend: 'I shall not call you servants anymore ... I call you friends.' Without friendships something is dead within us. Just as a healthy openness, frankness, sincerity and an attitude of respect are fundamental as a foundation for prayer, these qualities are also developed in friendship. For deep friendship brings an empathetic knowledge of the other, an understanding that comes from love and compassion.
Friends grow together ... challenge each other. Friends have the power to draw the best out of us. To have formed a few very deep friendships is the blessing of a lifetime. Silence offers us the luxury of deepening our friendship with God ... of knowing how dearly we are loved by God. The Beloved will speak to us within our self-understanding, love us within our self-acceptance and celebrate with us when we celebrate with our friends."
