Smile. Have you ever noticed how easily puppies make human friends? Yet all they do is wag their tails and fall over.

The shock of such a partner destabilizes us too much. The risk too great, the discomfort so demanding. We much prefer to settle for a less demanding, less overwhelming meeting. Yet we are haunted by the awareness that only this overwhelming meeting gives life.

Healing is impossible in loneliness; it is the opposite of loneliness. Conviviality is healing. To be healed we must come with all the other creatures to the feast of Creation. (pg.99, "The Body and the Earth")

I still don't like going to bed alone.

When it comes to biblical counseling, friendship is central to the counseling relationship because it is a key aspect of the Gospel. Paul's words display it; Jesus' actions approve it. In Jesus Christ, friendship has its ultimate — that is, it's paradigmatic — display. He sacrificially gave Himself for the good of those he befriended — people who were awkward and troubled types, people who did not offer Him anything particularly desirable in return.

Every man needs a place to be open and vulnerable with brothers leaning together upon the Lord.

Plain and simple, men need community with other men. Loving, you-before-me, dedicated relationship. If you have never had it, you don't really get it yet, and if you had that community and lost it, you know the cavity it leaves in your soul until you discover it again.

Strong men serving together thrive in the strength their friendship provides.

Spending too much time in one's individual silo can produce pride, isolation, and a stagnated ministry.

Francis Bacon," said Peter, a trifle belatedly. "Mr. Kirk, you're a man after my own heart.

He who shares the danger ought to share the prize.

We must make friends in prosperity, if we would have their help in adversity.