My “Three-Minute Retreat” this morning asked a really good question?

 “What qualities of human friendship do I practice in my relationship with God?”

 So, I thought about close friends of mine, and why they are such good friends. Here are some of the things that come to mind.
 1. They think the best of me, even when there is massive evidence that they shouldn’t.
 2. They sometimes (but not often) speak to me very frankly about ways in which I need to improve. This may seem to be the opposite of what I listed first. It is not! Thinking the best of me means not only thinking of me well in the here and now, but also means thinking of the man that I need to become. Therefore, old-fashioned truth-telling is an important part of friendship.
 3. A friend listens intently.
 4. A friend takes seriously my own life’s story, but also shares his/her own.
 
Now, God certainly practices all of these qualities toward me and toward all of us. God is the best of all friends on each of these counts!

 1. God thinks kindly of me, no matter what I’ve done.
 2. God often speaks the truth to me in no uncertain terms—at least, when I can hear the truth. (Often, I refuse to hear.)
 3. God listens intently.
 4. God takes seriously my own life’s story—the good, the bad, and the ugly. In the Bible, in church history, in the seemingly secular events of the universe, in nature, God is sharing God’s own story with me.

But here is the question that I am actually being asked by my anonymous retreat master. I am going to repeat it, emphasizing one word: ““What qualities of human friendship do I practice in my relationship with God?”

 Could you tell which word I was emphasizing?

 How do I practice in my developing of a deeper friendship with God?

 1. Do I think the best of God, when God does not seem to be present, when God does not give me things which I’m pretty sure would be good for me and for others? Do I call a tornado “an act of God,” but refuse to be grateful for an achingly lovely sunrise or sunset?
 2. It might seem that I don’t have to practice the second tenet toward God. After all, God never needs to be corrected! Right?
 Well, yes, that is right—at least in one sense. However, I do need to speak the truth to God, as I think I see the truth. That is part of what the Scripture shows happening among God’s people.
 Some of the psalmists—along with the prophet Isaiah—told God to wake up! (See Psalm 7:6; 35:23; 44:23, and Isaiah 51:9ff. for further details.)
 I can’t (or at least won’t) realize that I am the one who needs to wake up, until I’ve told the God (who never slumbers or sleeps) to wake up.
 So, yes, I do need to practice the second quality of friendly listening.
 3. I need to listen intently to God. Once I’ve had my say (see the preceding section), then I need to be silent and listen.
 Years ago, I heard or read something like the following: “The question is not, ‘Does God still speak to humans?’ Rather, the question is, ‘Are we listening?’”
 Yes!
 4. Do I take seriously God’s own story? It’s a great story! I believe that the Bible is the true story of God’s friendship with a stubborn stiff-necked people called “Israel.” I also believe that the Bible is God telling me his story of an even more stiff-necked people called “the Church.” Indeed, the Bible tells God’s agonizing story of God’s love for the entire human race.
 Am I daily practicing these fundamental qualities of friendship, and seeking to deepen my friendship with God? If not, why not? And as an old rabbinic saying goes, “If not now, when?”