"Rocky Bal-Baby"

By David Yep

A one year old lying in his crib. His arms and legs flail and his little voice alternates between small grunts and energetic squeals. I observe him puzzled. Mom comes to the rescue and points out the dangling plastic piece above him. Okay, I get it: our little guy is boxing. 

He kept at it. And every once in a while, he actually hit the thing. 

It got me thinking about friendship. Especially when we are trying to reach out to new people or just simply friending, we often tend to overdo it. Of course we mean well; our “zeal” is so great that we try everything from sharing chocolate to buying vouchers at brand name stores. 

The principle lacking is one we have already seen before: know better in order to love better. 

When it comes to friending, sometimes less is actually better. Every once in a while I play boxing video games with the kids. It’s funny how – and my experience from the school confirms the same :-) - sometimes one well-placed blow to the nose is more effective than twenty to the stomach. Take our munchkin Rocky. He is quite the fighter, but since he does not yet have coordination, he is moving his whole body, when he really only needs to move his arms in order to knock that thing cold.

Friending involves a lot of reflection and constant learning. Jesus allowed John to rest his head on his breast. Would it have been an act of friendship to allow Peter to do the same? Maybe, but I’d put my money on the fact that Peter wouldn't have done it. He wasn't like that.

We need to learn coordination too. Learn how to show your friendship with each person. Want to test yourself? Think of any one of your friends, and ask yourself: what does he/she especially like? If you can answer, then you’re on the right track.