"Spiritual friends are those soul mates who share our spiritual longings and help us to become our own best selves. These special friendships are like life preservers that keep our heads above the murky waters of isolation and superficiality. Sure, it may be fun, even necessary, to have friends we can call to go out for cocktails or shopping, but it is even more important to have friends we connect with in a significant and lasting way," writes Mary DeTuris Poust, an author, columnist, journalist, and blogger who has contributed to dozens of Catholic and secular publications over the last 25 years. Visit her online at http://www.marydeturispoust.com.
Poust thinks that the pressures and constraints of modern life and work make it nearly impossible to sustain long-term friendships. Yet people still long for deeper connections with others. That is why spiritual friendships are more important than ever since they enable us to connect with those who share our values and ideals. These soul mates can offer us prayers and encouragement, talk to us about spiritual challenges, and love us in a way that touches the heart. Equally important is that what we share is an abiding love of God.
For inspiration and illumination, Poust presents profiles of a variety of spiritual friendships worthy of emulation: St. Francis of Assisi and St. Clare, Francis de Sales and Jane de Chantal, C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien, Thomas Merton and Zen master D. T. Suzuki, and Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin. These relationships reveal some of the major characteristics of spiritual friendships including companionship, unconditional love, humility, honesty, charity, communication, and commitment. Poust concludes with a poetic meditation:
The true meaning of our journey
is not about earthy things but about
matters of the heart
and longings of the spirit.
We open our arms to those companions
who join us on this pilgrimage of love.
We recognize that we are not meant
to walk this road one by one,
but side by side.
