Friendship with windows.

This sermon series was recommended to me by a very wise friend earlier this week, and I've been listening to it during my commute. It's about marriage. I honestly can't remember how it came up in conversation, because we weren't talking about men at the time (though I suppose it's likely that I slipped in a bad date story or two). Regardless, I'll see her recommendation and raise you mine.

I listened to number 5 ("Marriage as Friendship") this morning. Somewhere between Pentagon City and Farragut West, part of my heart sang, and part of my heart died.

In this sermon, Tim Keller describes the Christian world as a world with windows. Our lives are firmly planted on earthly soil. But every once in a while, when something beautiful or hopeful or redeeming occurs, we catch a glimpse of eternity. 

Blarney Castle, November 2009

Thus, getting-to-know a Christian is "kind of like looking for a mountain on a cloudy day." You can't see the peak because it's hidden by fog. But when the winds shift and the sun peeks through, you get an occasional glimpse of who that person is becoming. You're not there yet, but you know where you're headed, and every once in a while you see not just their potential, but their destiny.

This, Keller says, is friendship with windows - a calling forth and celebration of the other's "glory self."

Friendship between Christians is constantly looking beyond time, saying, "I want to be your friend for a few billion years."