I once had a very best friend. His name was Peter and we first met in the office where we worked. Peter was in charge of all the training activities conducted in the Sydney Australian Taxation Office (ATO). I had the responsibility during the early part of the calendar year to train 130 new applicants in Taxation Law in order for them to assess salary and wage income tax returns for the coming busy financial year. So Peter and I had a lot of liaising and working jointly to achieve the goals we had been set. This working relationship brought us close together and we became good friends. Peter was an atheist but he respected my belief in God and the church responsibilities I had.
In his personal life Peter was involved in the music and entertainment scene, writing and producing songs. He partnered up with a singer who became a famous Australian household name. Peter managed and produced the performances of this artist. They eventually decided to leave Australia and go to the USA to further their careers.
I lost contact with Peter for around twenty odd years. Then one day I was sitting in my office in the ATO when I received an unexpected telephone call. It was Peter! He had returned from the USA to reside back in Australia. We met for lunch and continued to do this on a weekly basis. Peter was still continuing to assist his singing friend who had also returned to his homeland. And so our friendship was renewed.
The date for my retirement arrived and Betty and I decided to sell our home in Five Dock and move to our current address. Peter wasn’t happy in his home in the area where he lived so he sold up and purchased a home in Wentworth Falls. We continued to meet for lunch every fortnight in one of the villages in the Blue Mountains.
After several years Peter started to feel unwell. He was diagnosed with cancer. This illness meant Peter had to start on a long period of treatment and chemotherapy. I used to take him to a specialist in North Sydney for his regular treatment. As his condition became worse and he grew weaker I would go more regularly to his home to visit, take lunch, care for any domestic things that needed doing and obtain his medication from the chemist.
As I write, I am reminded now of the following quote that appeared to be relevant to the situation I found myself in: “Nothing can be sweeter than the gift of friendship, particularly when we are going through painful circumstances.”
It got to the stage where Peter was so weak with the cancer spreading throughout his body that he came to live in our home where a nurse would visit to give him the required medication through needles. I would take him to Nepean Hospital for his chemotherapy. Eventually Peter had to be admitted to Nepean Hospital where he finally passed away. I conducted his funeral and according to Peter’s wishes, scattered his ashes over a cliff into a valley in the Blue Mountains near his home.
Several months later I was contacted by Peter’s brother wanting to know how much money they owed me for caring for Peter as they wanted to finalise his estate. I pondered over what I was being asked and then gave my reply. I told the brother there is no way I could place a price on the many years of friendship I had enjoyed with Peter. I thanked him for his offer and told him that I would not take any money.
I recall seeing a sign on many church street notice boards describing themselves as “The Friendly Church”. Writing on this topic, David E. Garland in NIV Life Application Commentary, Colossians said: “We are mistaken if we think that people are simply looking for friendly churches; they are looking for friends.” How true this is! I have known people who are not really interested in the religious side of church but they attend church because of the friends they meet.
Hymn writer John Fawcett was faced with the dilemma of leaving the poor church he had been the pastor of for many years. He was offered a call to pastor a larger and famous church in London. John and his wife anguished over the decision they had to make. They finally decided to remain with their current church and the friends they had come to love. Out of this experience John wrote the world-famous hymn:
“Blest be the tie that binds
Our hearts in Christian love.
The fellowship of kindred minds
Is like to that above.”
I believe that when we are in the company of a true friend we are in a sacred space where love, happiness, openness and caring for each other are the foundation stones of the relationship.
Do you have a best friend? Love them and share with them the blessings that can come from your friendship and you will sense the Holy Spirit supporting you.
Bill Gillard