March 13, 2023
“The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing…that is a friend who cares.”
– Henry Nouwen
Two friends were despondent as they walked to the village of Emmaus. The man they believed in and loved dearly had died. Not just any man, not just any death. It was Jesus, who was brutally executed on a cross. And as they walked, they recounted the terrible events, consoling each other in their grief and shock. 
They probably asked many of the same questions we do when someone we love dies. “How could this happen?” “What will we do now?” “Where was God?” Then, a stranger approached and asked what they were discussing, and he listened to them. The stranger, of course, was Jesus, who walked with them on their journey. They asked him to stay with them, and only later did he reveal who he was “in the breaking of the bread.” Have you been blessed to have a friend who walks with you and listens to you? Have you felt emotional and spiritual support, knowing that even though your situation was the same as before, you felt better just to have shared your sorrow with a sympathetic listener?
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Have you learned that friends don’t really want criticism, suggestions, or advice? What they really want is someone to listen.