I am always surprised by how Lewis words things or by the examples he uses in his books. This passage in the Chapter on Friendship in The Four Loves hit the nail right on the head for me about friendship amongst a group of friends:
"Lamb says somewhere that if, of three friends (A, B, and C) A should die, then B loses not only A but "A's part in C," while C loses not only A but "A's part in B." In each of my friends there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out. By myself I am not large enough to call the whole man into activity; I want other lights than my own to show all his facets."
My friends augment a part of me and I do the same for them. I had often thought about how different my friends and I are from each other, and yet how well we seemed to flow together as a group. This augmenting comes from a deep and long history of friendship. Lewis' wording said it much better than I could ever have conveyed it myself. I like the way my friend Vicki can bring some out in my friend Danette that I can't. I enjoy the fact that there things that Danette brings out in Vicki and in myself that I never would have known was there if not for her. Friendship, while the most "unnatural" of loves, is certainly one of the most complex loves and almost as multi-faceted as we are ourselves.
Does Lewis' wording strike a chord in anyone else? It would be interesting to find out which passages not just in the Four Loves have struck someone.
"Lamb says somewhere that if, of three friends (A, B, and C) A should die, then B loses not only A but "A's part in C," while C loses not only A but "A's part in B." In each of my friends there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out. By myself I am not large enough to call the whole man into activity; I want other lights than my own to show all his facets."
My friends augment a part of me and I do the same for them. I had often thought about how different my friends and I are from each other, and yet how well we seemed to flow together as a group. This augmenting comes from a deep and long history of friendship. Lewis' wording said it much better than I could ever have conveyed it myself. I like the way my friend Vicki can bring some out in my friend Danette that I can't. I enjoy the fact that there things that Danette brings out in Vicki and in myself that I never would have known was there if not for her. Friendship, while the most "unnatural" of loves, is certainly one of the most complex loves and almost as multi-faceted as we are ourselves.
Does Lewis' wording strike a chord in anyone else? It would be interesting to find out which passages not just in the Four Loves have struck someone.
posted by Emily at 9:16 PM
3 Comments:
I thought about this very passage myself. Its so true even when some of your friends maybe don't even get along all the time, its like they feed off each other and that creates who they are and is a part of identifying them. Some of my friends are only friends because they can argue with each other when no one else wants to listen what they're talking about.
Definitely true. Some friendships also only exist because there are all three people. I know that some of my friendships wouldn't exist if all three of us weren’t friends. It’s like a small group friendship. Without just one of us, none would be friends with either of the others. I wonder what Lewis would have said about this.
While Lewis' wording is very academic, I think that it hits the nail on the head. I know that some of my friends bring different things out in my personality. I also know that I draw different aspects of thier personalities out when I am with them.
Post a Comment
<< Home