Real friendship is very rare, extremely rare in history, for it calls for natures that are already very lofty, and it elevates them still more.Friendship with Jesus, however, is of a far more exquisite quality, and it brings to souls blessings that are infinitely superior. It consecrates friendships that are purely natural, and raises them up and endows them with a supernatural quality. That is why we should cultivate both at the same time.
Unfortunately, this second friendship is difficult, because the object of our love is not such as comes with the scope of our senses, and our relations with Jesus are bound to follow the way of spiritual things. These make little impression on us, just because they do not appeal to our senses. One needs time to understand the things of the soul, and to experience the relations that souls can have with one another. How often to we not say: “I do not forget you; you are always in my thoughts.” But do we reflect on the deep reality that lies beneath our words?
We do not understand, or rather we do not realize, that when two souls are united, they do not lie side by side like two bodies; they are really each in the other. And this is the principle of all love union, and in particular of that friendship which is the highest form of that union. Two friends become one, because their minds and their hearts are in perfect harmony, in the worship of the same truth and in the love of the same good. That community of love – note the word “community” which means “community-unity” and is very significant – increases our life twofold, and makes our being greater with all the greatness of the life of the one we love. That is how, when we love God and when we enter into these relations of friendship with Him, our life takes on a wideness which is measureless, and becomes eternal life.
~Augustin Guillerand~
