The gift of friendship

Nouwen says that when we sense that there is no one in our life who truly cares for us and offers love without condition, and there is no place where we can be vulnerable with being used or rejected, we feel intensely lonely.

But the gift of loyal friendship, the kind that won't ever be revoked or fade away, can create a safe place where loneliness gives way to the warmth of trust and love. Loyal friendship is the sunlight that allows the seeds of loneliness to be transformed into the fruit of solitude.

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