Anam Cara

"If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand."

--Philippians 2:1-4

Paul exhorts the Philippians in this passage to be "deep-spirited friends." Kathy and Diana introduced us this Sunday to the Celtic idea of "anam cara," which means "soul friend." This is friendship with people who resonate with you, understand who you are, and you resonate with and understand them. to be able to understand each other. This seems to be what Paul is talking about in Philippians 2. 

One way that Kathy and Diana suggested we are able to become "deep-spirited friends" is to cultivate those friendships where you have something deeply meaningful in common - like Jesus, for instance. When Jesus is at the center of our friendships, the possibility for them to become "anam cara" or "deep-spirited" grows.

Think about this for a few minutes today. Who is "anam cara" in your life? What does it look like for Jesus to be at the center of that deep-spirited friendship? Or, how does his presence in that friendship make it possible for you to be "anam cara" to each other?