Joy and Friendship

"For a friend is the sharer of your soul."

My friend Santosh Marray is the Bishop of the Diocese of Easton. He and I have a schtick. When we see each other at meetings, I greet him by saying, “Hello Joy!” He then says, “And how is Santosh?” You see, “Santosh” means “joy.” And, as my regular readers know, my wife’s name is Joy.

San is an interesting guy. Born in Guyana, he was raised by his parents in their own Hindu faith. As a teenager, he converted to Christianity while attending a small, rural Anglican congregation. In 2005 he became the Bishop of the Seychelles, a small island country in the Indian Ocean. He served there in faith, knowing beforehand that the compensation would be less than meagre.

Photo by Xan Griffin on Unsplash

Our friendship has made me a better person. In large part, that’s because our friendship has drawn me closer to Jesus. It’s like the medieval monastic Aelred of Rievaulx once said, “Friendship is a path that leads very close to the perfection which consists of the enjoyment and knowledge of God.” And…