Closer than a Brother

You know, Lord, that I have walked in desserts where there are no friends. No comrades and yokefellows baring up with me under the load. No brothers to join arms with in the fight. No co-journeyers who have the same knowing in their eyes from the shared road.

I will never go back to that place. I will never again be turned into the untouchable minister, more manchine than flesh-and-blood. I will never again descend into the pit of busyness and self-defensiveness, inauthenticity, and avoidance. I have seen the green lands of knowing and being known. I have breathed in the fresh air of compassion, empathy, and deep fellowship. I have been washed in the rains of grace poured out from your people. I will never go back, so help me God.

Most surpising of all, I have found you, O Lord, to be a friend. What a scandal! That God Almighty the Lord of Hosts would also be my friend, the one that sticks closer than a brother. I am a slave no longer, for you have shown me what you are doing in me and in the world. You have made yourself known to me and you know me like no other.

I have sworn an oath like a blood brother. Like the mixing of blood, I am no longer just myself. I am also my friends. Your are in me, O God my Friend, as I am in you through my Friend, your Son. And in me also are all these friends of yours, my band of brothers. Bind us together in love and unity and peace.