companionship

Friendship arises out of mere Companionship when two or more of the companions discover that they have in common some insight or interest or even taste which the others do not share and which, till that moment, each believed to be his own unique treasure (or burden). The typical expression of opening Friendship would be something like, "What? You too? I thought I was the only one." ... It is when two such persons discover one another, when, whether with immense difficulties and semi-articulate fumblings or with what would seem to us amazing and elliptical speed, they share their vision - it is then that Friendship is born. And instantly they stand together in an immense solitude.

Loyal companions are an unequaled grace, stanching fear before it bleeds you numb, a reliable antidote for creeping despair.

Nature in her green, tranquil woods heals and soothes all affliction,_ wrote John Muir. __arth hath no sorrows that earth cannot heal._ Now I knew this for what it was: a beguiling but dangerous lie. I was furious with myself and my own conscious certainty that t his was the cure I needed. Hands are for other humans to hold. They should not be reserved exclusively as perches for hawks. And the wild is not a panacea for the human soul; too much in the air can corrode it to nothing.

Don't let feeling lonely push you into the arms of a person who will make you miserable.

Snowflakes swirl down gently in the deep blue haze beyond the window. The outside world is a dream.Inside, the fireplace is brightly lit, and the Yule log crackles with orange and crimson sparks.There__ a steaming mug in your hands, warming your fingers.There__ a friend seated across from you in the cozy chair, warming your heart.There is mystery unfolding.

When what you want is a relationship, and not a person, get a dog.

How we need that security. How we need another soul to cling to, another body to keep us warm. To rest and trust; to give your soul in confidence: I need this. I need someone to pour myself into.

Be the person you needed when you needed help.

Loneliness, she thought, was craving for other people's company. But she did not know that loneliness can be an unnoticed cramping of the spirit for lack of companionship.

So that you will hear memy wordssometimes grow thinas the tracks of the gulls on the beaches.Necklace, drunken bellfor your hands smooth as grapes.And I watch my words from a long way off.They are more yours than mine.They climb on my old suffering like ivy.It climbs the same way on damp walls.You are to blame for this cruel sport.They are fleeing from my dark lair.You fill everything, you fill everything.Before you they peopled the solitude that you occupy,and they are more used to my sadness than you are.Now I want them to say what I want to say to youto make you hear as I want you to hear me.The wind of anguish still hauls on them as usual.Sometimes hurricanes of dreams still knock them over.You listen to other voices in my painful voice.Lament of old mouths, blood of old supplications.Love me, companion. Don't forsake me. Follow me.Follow me, companion, on this wave of anguish.But my words become stained with your love.You occupy everything, you occupy everything.I am making them into an endless necklacefor your white hands, smooth as grapes.

Loneliness is really a wonderful companion that can show us so much about ourselves and others.

You could climb to the top of the world and jump into the deepest of ravines, but if you don__ have someone to share it with you__l always be looking back.

A number of years ago I had some experience with being alone. For two succeeding years I was alone each winter for eight months at a stretch in the Sierra Nevada mountains on Lake Tahoe. I was the caretaker on a summer estate during the winter months when it was snowed in. And I made some observations then. As time went on I found that my reactions thickened. Ordinarily I am a whistler. I stopped whistling. I stopped conversing with my dogs, and I believe that the subtleties of feeling began to disappear until finally I was on a pleasure-pain basis. Then it occurred to me that the delicate shades of feeling, of reaction, are the result of communication, and without such communication they tend to disappear. A man with nothing to say has no words. Can its reverse be true- a man who has no one to say anything to has no words as he has no need for words? ... Only through imitation do we develop toward originality.

How we need another soul to cling to.

I realize, for the first time, how very lonely I've been in the arena. How comforting the presence of another human being can be.

The people are hungry,_ Mihali said. He lifted his hands, spreading them to encompass the city. __he people need to be fed. They need bread and wine and soup and meat. But not just that. They need friendship._ He pointed to a minor noble, some viscount decked out in his finest foppish frills, who poured a bottle of St. Adom__ Festival wine into the cups of a half-dozen street urchins.__hey need companionship,_ Mihali said. __hey need love and brotherhood._ He turned to Tamas. He reached out with one hand, putting a palm to Tamas__ cheek. Instinct told Tamas to step back. He found that he couldn__.__ou gorged them on the blood of the nobility,_ Mihali said gently. __hey drank, but were not filled. They ate of hatred and grew hungrier._ He took a deep breath. __our intentions were_ well, not pure, but just. Justice is never enough._ He let go of Tamas and turned to the square. __ will put things right,_ he said. He puffed out his chest and spread his arms. __ will feed all of Adro. It is what they need.

This is how it needs to be in life. Solomon also wrote these words in Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (NIV) "Two are better than one, because if either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls down and has no one to help them up." God didn't intend for us to do life alone. So let me ask you, who do you turn to when life hits you hard in the mouth? Your family? Some trusted friends? A teacher or coach? Are you building relationships today that will be there for you tomorrow when adversity comes your way? Do you have humility to look to others for strength and encouragement, or are you holding to the foolish pride that says, "I need to make it alone"?

I cannot stand the company of men. They flatter or they judge. I can stand neither of the two.