Have you ever wondered how reading a text several times you fail to see a different perspective that is hidden in the text and then one day, you read the text and you suddenly discover the perspective that was hidden in plain sight? We have all become familiar with the Johannine text, where Jesus calls his himself the vine and we his followers his branches. Also, the motif of vine and branches is so strong that too often we fail to hear another provocative passage in that pericope. In John 15:15, Jesus refers to his followers as friends and not as servants because servants do not know what the master is doing. But as friends they know all that he does. I have always wondered what this text implies. Do permit me to share with you what comes up in my consciousness.
If Jesus refers to himself as a friend and locates friendship within the domain of openness, we all know that openness is itself saturated with vulnerability. This implies that God in Jesus Christ has willingly chosen to embody vulnerability as a constituent marker of who he is. To be a vulnerable God is to evoke in us the desire to encounter. It is also to help invoke in us our own vulnerabilities so that as vulnerable creatures of a vulnerable God, we encounter each other in friendship. What then are the markers of friendship?
God’s invitation and desire for friendship implies radical openness first by God and by us who respond to the invitation to encounter. Friendship implies a desire to encounter and be comfortable with that which is being revealed in the encounter. Friendship implies a desire to want to trust and be trusted because it implies a turn to authenticity which is radical vulnerability itself. God, in God’s authenticity becomes radically vulnerable through trusting so that we can learn from God how to be authentic through an embrace of of trusting God in return. Friendship is grounded in acceptance through the practice of epoche. God does not judge because by not judging God is able to transform us. We are also called to learn how to practice epoche as a deliberate tool for transforming ourselves and our world in radical imitation of God.
Friends have an existential informal way of being with each other. They let their hair down. They are playful with each other. The care in an altruistic manner. This leads me to reflect on how an embrace of a spirituality of friendship ought to play out in our lives. How do we relate with God? Are we too formal that we forget how to be playful as God is playful towards us? Do we learn to take things lightly and embrace the praxis of second chances as God does with us when we go astray?
I do think that as we catechize, we ought to learn how to speak of a God whom we encounter as a friend through our embrace of a spirituality of friendship. Friendship is never enacted through rules. Rather, it is always through the medium of playfulness that friendship is enacted. I do believe that when we embrace this catechetical approach, we would be able to make God accessible and shed light on why God has a place in our world. We need a spirituality of friendship as a tool for making God known as the friend of all creation. Enjoy!
Reflection – February 26, 2024.
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