Spiritual Friendship: Learning to Be Friends with God and One Another

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Spiritual Friendship

the timing and location of the correction are important (3.109−113). Aelred then deals with a practical challenge to which those in positions of power and influence within the church will relate. He addresses the question of how and when one should give promotions and positions of leadership to your friends (3.114−118). Aelred shows how these principles work practically by telling a story about two of his friends and how he related to them when opportunities to serve in leadership arose (3.119−127). The chapter ends with a final summary, and a reminder that the goal of all spiritual friendship is to help spiritual friends grow in their friendship with God, a friendship that will one day be made complete in heaven (3.128−134). Text Friends Are Generous with One Another (3.97−100) 97. (cont.) AELRED: And now let us examine how friendship is to be cultivated in the doing of favors. Here let us steal an insight from another’s hands. Someone said, “Let this law be sanctified in friendship, that from friends we seek what is honorable, that for friends we do what is honorable, and that we not wait to be asked to do this service. Let there never be any delay, let us always be zealous in this.” 1 98. If we are expected to expend our money on behalf of our friends, how much more should we take account of our friends’ advantages and needs! But everyone cannot do everything: one man has money in abundance, another has lands and possessions, a third has the gift

1 Cicero, On Friendship , 13.44.