Peter Fitch. St. Croix Vineyard Sunday, September 11, 2016 Friend Peter Fitch. St. Croix Vineyard Sunday, September 11, 2016

There are so many beautiful quotes about friendship . . . Euripides: “Friends show their love in times of trouble, not in happiness.” Walter Winchell: “A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.” Thomas Aquinas: “There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship.” Mark Twain: “Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.”

More great quotes . . . C. S. Lewis: “Friendship ... is born at the moment when one man says to another "What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . .” Elbert Hubbard: “A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.” Linda Grayson: “There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate.” Aristotle: “What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies.” Bob Marley: “The truth is, everyone is going to hurt you. You just got to find the ones worth suffering for.”

Job’s friends One thing right, many words wrong . . .

Proverbs 17:17 A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity. 27:6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.

Psalm 15 1 O Lord, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill 2 He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, And speaks truth in his heart. 3 He does not slander with his tongue Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor takes up a reproach against his friend;

Psalm 15 4 In whose eyes a reprobate is despised, But who honors those who fear the Lord; He swears to his own hurt and does not change 5 He does not put out his money at interest, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.

John 15 Verse 13: Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. Verse 14: You are My friends if you do what I command you. Verse 15: No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.

Who is the Father of Judaism? Noah? No, ah, it’s Abraham What the rabbis taught . . . There is a difference First, the parable of the King’s pearl and the piles of sifted soil Then, the outward look and the hospitality at his camp near the oaks of Mamre (Genesis 18)

David Brooks, 1 and 2

David Brooks: The Road to Character (2015) The difference between the resume virtues and the eulogy virtues Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik, Lonely Man of Faith (1965): the difference between Adam 1 and Adam 2

The Truth There are people with whom we “share a soul” and they are pure gift to us However, we can choose to become “friend” to all around We can grow in integrity and stand up for what’s right We can also lay down our lives (usually in very small ways) in order to be a friend to the people we come in contact with, especially to those who are going through something difficult (Jacob and Murray)