Trouble, Suffering, and Friends

The following comes from an article by Wendell Berry on the economic crisis, in which he is critical of a fundamental premise of free market capitalism, and our whole society: the fantasy of limitlessness (also the original sin...). It's a good article that can be found at Harpers. I share it for the comments regarding his connecting the words friend and freedom, following up on Jesus' encouraging words that he calls us friends:

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you... (John 15:14-16)

Berry writes:

"As earthly creatures, we live, because we must, within natural limits, which we may describe by such names as “earth” or “ecosystem” or “watershed” or “place.” But as humans, we may elect to respond to this necessary placement by the self-restraints implied in neighborliness, tewardship, thrift, temperance, generosity, care, kindness, friendship, loyalty, and love.

"In our limitless selfishness, we have tried to define “freedom,” for example, as an escape from all restraint. But, as my friend Bert Hornback has explained in his book The Wisdom in Words, “free” is etymologically related to “friend.” These words come from the same Indo-European root, which carries the sense of “dear” or “beloved.” We set our friends free by our love for them, with the implied restraints of faithfulness or loyalty. And this suggests that our “identity” is located not in the impulse of selfhood but in deliberately maintained connections."

And this is exactly what Jesus, our true friend, did and does for us. He set us free to live within the bounds of boundless love, amidst all the joys and suffering of this life. That was my point Sunday: that while "trouble and suffering" (Greek: thlipsis = tribulation, oppression, persecution, or "that which causes pain") are part of our allotted limits in this groaning world, that we have a friend, and a friend can make all the difference when you're dealing with trouble and suffering.

And as we grow in friendship with Christ Jesus, we become more and more free - to follow him, glorify him, and serve him and his world. Thanks be to God!