04 Oct 14
What is a 'close friend'?
How is the closeness of such a friendship maintained?
In terms of how you define them, how many genuine 'close friends' can you realistically have in the course of your everyday life?
To what degree do your close friendships constitute a part of your nuts-and-bolts 'meaning of life'?
05 Oct 14
1 edit
Originally posted by FMFNot to derail your thread, but since it is a spirituality forum and there are Christians here who believe they a 'personal relationship' [in other words, a close friendship] with Christ, then it is likely some here might claim that they are 'close friends' with Jesus Christ. Before they do here is what Christ said:
What is a 'close friend'?
How is the closeness of such a friendship maintained?
In terms of how you define them, how many genuine 'close friends' can you realistically have in the course of your everyday life?
To what degree do your close friendships constitute a part of your nuts-and-bolts 'meaning of life'?
Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
05 Oct 14
Originally posted by Rajk999Well one would hope that a perceived 'personal relationship with Christ' would not preclude discussion about friendships with fellow humans. 🙂
Not to derail your thread, but since it is a spirituality forum and there are Christians here who believe they a 'personal relationship' [in other words, a close friendship] with Christ, then it is likely some here might claim that they are 'close friends' with Jesus Christ. Before they do here is what Christ said:
[b] Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. [/b]
I believe that friendship is very much a spiritual matter. If you disagree, then that may make an interesting seam to mine on this thread.
The supernatural aside though, to what degree can close personal relationships with others contribute to the proverbial 'meaning of life'?
05 Oct 14
Originally posted by FMFIm not sure how 'spiritual' close friendships are. Maybe you can define what 'spiritual' means in this context. Personally I had two good friends who were good in the sense of what Christ called good, but they however died of massive heart attack in their early 50s. I had about 4 other close friends who were good buddies to hang out with, and I did so for as much as 25 years. However in the last 10 years or so my life became more and more 'spiritual' in the sense that I decided to start 'behaving' myself ie living like Christ said a Christian should live. One by one these friends departed because I refused to do certain things or condone certain kinds of behaviour. I think therefore that friends are there for a time when it is convenient and both parties benefit from that friendship. If that relationship is strained or onesided then it cannot last. While having friends might be important for some, there are people who are very happy being hermits and the 'meaning of life' issue is answered for them without having friends around.
Well one would hope that a perceived 'personal relationship with Christ' would not preclude discussion about friendships with fellow humans. 🙂
I believe that friendship is very much a spiritual matter. If you disagree, then that may make an interesting seam to mine on this thread.
The supernatural aside though, to what degree can close personal relationships with others contribute to the proverbial 'meaning of life'?
05 Oct 14
Originally posted by Rajk999I think as humans we are endowed with a capacity for projecting ourselves in abstract ways and also we are affected and influenced and shaped by the abstract projections of other people.
Im not sure how 'spiritual' close friendships are. Maybe you can define what 'spiritual' means in this context.
Added to this, we clearly have individual spirits ~ perhaps the same thing that you refer to as a "soul" although as a religionist you certainly would define it differently from me ~ which comprise personality, uniqueness, relationships, and other abstract aspects all bound together in the singular personal narrative that each of us accumulates as we live our lives.
This is the nature of the human spirit and is therefore ~ to me ~ the domain of "spirituality" [i.e. concerned with or affecting the spirit or soul]. In your case, your human spirit ~ and all the metaphysical facilities and capacities attendant thereto, which I believe we both possess ~ has taken you into the philosophical realm of Christian belief. It did so for me, too, at a certain part of my life.
For you, "spirituality" is intricately bound to a supernatural being with whom you perceive yourself to be in a relationship; for me, the same ability and inclination ~ my spirit in action ~ to contemplate myself [and what it is that I seem to be part of here in my life] has not resulted in me perceiving myself to be in a relationship a supernatural being, but it is our common spiritual nature that has led to these two different outcomes.
I think that whatever it is that makes up the actual substance of friendship and love, what it is that can affect us deeply about art, what it is about knowledge that can offer us profound insights into the human condition, and what it is that moves us towards beliefs about a divine being, are all connected by "spirituality" and by the fact that we are spiritual beings.
05 Oct 14
Originally posted by Rajk999Yes I think life presents us with many friends in this category, but I think they can of course be good friends, even if not of the enduring kind. However, life changes can remove us from them and then the closeness that there may have been becomes biographical information ~ although we can still be affected by the experiences. I have lived in several completely different places, in different countries, while doing completely different things, with different sets of friends, and there are numerous good friends that I have lost contact with; I cannot continue to look upon them as "close".
I think therefore that friends are there for a time when it is convenient and both parties benefit from that friendship.
05 Oct 14
Originally posted by FMFI have had pretty much a similar experience having worked and lived in several countries. Lasting friendships are difficult to maintain. I know that there are many who are born, grow up, work and lived within a 50 mile radius and have never moved. All their friends and family [numbering in the 100s], all live within an hours drive. These people can best relate to close friendships being something spiritual, or of great value in defining their life.
Yes I think life presents us with many friends in this category, but I think they can of course be good friends, even if not of the enduring kind. However, life changes can remove us from them and then the closeness that there may have been becomes biographical information ~ although we can still be affected by the experiences. I have lived in several completely ...[text shortened]... rous good friends that I have lost contact with; I cannot continue to look upon them as "close".