Spiritual friendship

"The friend is the key and I am the lock."

Rumi



Rumi uncovers for us here a secret way into the bliss of the Divine Presence: the precious gift of spiritual friendship. The spiritual friend is not just a friend whose company we enjoy. Such friendships are important and nourishing to us in some necessary way, but they don’t touch our depth of being. Friendship in its mystical significance is always a relationship in the light of eternity: it is a bond related to our eternal mutual well-being. Although it partakes of all the joys of affection normal among friends, it has its origin and destiny in the Divine itself. The friend, in this sense, is a mirror for us, and we are a mirror for them. This friend is someone with whom we can share our deepest thoughts and fears, someone who inspires us, reminds us, and corrects us when we need it. Such friends share prayer, meditation, and reflection with us, and all the joys that arise in the mystical journey. These rare friendships are the highest form of love there is after Divine Love itself.

[The Mystic Hours]
By Wayne Teasdale

(Courtesy Elizabeth Chatterjee)