"At the end of one of my favorite children's books, Charlotte's Web, Wilbur the pig confronts the grim news that his 'true friend,' Charlotte, is going to die and will not return to their shared barn with her babies.
"Wilbur, who has been spared the smokehouse and a place of honor on the Christmas dinner platter thanks to Charlotte's handiwork, asked: 'Why did you do all this for me? . . . I've never done anything for you.'
" 'You have been my friend,' replied Charlotte. 'That in itself is a tremendous thing. I wove my webs for you because I like you. . . . By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone's life can stand a little of that.'
"Wilbur told Charlotte that she saved him, adding, 'I would gladly give my life for you — I really would.'
"Then Wilbur took charge of Charlotte's egg sac, returning it safely to their barn and protecting it until the spiders hatched and flew off on the sticky webs — except for three who remained there with Wilbur to continue Charlotte's lineage in the barn doorway. We are told later that although Wilbur had many new friends, none of them ever took the place of Charlotte in his heart.
"So, even in one of the most famous barnyards in children's literature, we find useful lessons about spiritual friendship. Charlotte's Web is a story of unconditional love, of friendship grounded in giving first to the other, no matter what the cost. It may have been written for children, but Wilbur and Charlotte's story is our story. It is the story of two unlikely friends who find each other in the most unexpected places and develop a deep and abiding relationship not grounded in claims to power and glory, but rooted in humility, love, and charity. When those virtues combine at the heart of a spiritual friendship, an eternal bond is forged."
