... about why people are so lonely?

(This painting is called "Sheltering Tree" by Rosalyn Jacobs)

Well, after only a few posts during October (I didn't realize there were so few, sorry), I have decided to get back into the daily blogging habit. Here's a topic to start the month out with:

According to a 2004 study recently published in American Sociological Review, one in four Americans has no close friends in whom to confide matters of personal importance. Coleridge said that friendship was like a sheltering tree. In our lifetime I guess it might be more like a sheltering tree in the high plains (hey, it's where I live): not many find them. Chuck Swindoll in his book about David wrote some powerful things about friendship. He explained that David needed some people to rely on when his family and his kingdom were falling apart. They were like those sheltering trees. They were friends that were in it for the long haul. Swindoll went on to say that:

- Friends are not optional; they’re essential
- Friends are not automatic; they must be cultivated

- Friends are not neutral; they impact our lives

- Friendships come in varying degrees, some of whom play more significant roles in our life than others.

I am thankful for the friends I have had for the long haul. You know who you are.

Friends love through all kinds of weather, and families stick together in all kinds of trouble.
(Proverbs 17:17)

Friends come and friends go, but a true friend sticks by you like family.
(Proverbs 18:24)