Friendship.
You just call out my name
And you know wherever I am
I'll come running, to see you again
Winter, spring, summer or fall
All you've got to do is call
And I'll be there, yeah, yeah, yeah
You've got a friend
~ Carol King, “You’ve Got a Friend”
the james taylor summer series, 1
While Bono is my favorite rocker, James Taylor is my favorite crooner. Both of these artists have been making music since I was a child, and their songs are timeless. I think this is the genius of any artist: They are able to capture deep emotions embedded in the universal human experience and give them fresh, impactful expression. The combination of evocative lyrics with a haunting rhythm or melody… well, it just marks us. The best ones we return to over and over.
My kids learned early on that if Dad was leaving a hard day at the office (located across the house) and seemed to be in a bad mood, dinner music was ALWAYS the James Taylor station. Similarly, if I walked into the kitchen to hear “October Road” playing, I realized that I might need to make an attitude adjustment before entering the family space!
The first song I’ll explore with you was not actually written by James at all, but by his long-time friend and collaborator Carol King, a great artist in her own right. Yet it was James’ cover of her song in 1971 that make “You’ve Got a Friend” iconic. With Carol playing piano on the recording, it shot to number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 and won both of them Grammy Awards.
Forty-five years later, in-between rain storms, Ashley and I played this song for our father-daughter dance at her wedding in our Greensboro backyard. Take a fresh listen…
Is there anything more precious than a true friend? Someone 100% committed to us, who would drop everything and “come running” at our time of need? Proverbs wisely observes that such a friend who comes near is more valuable than a blood relative who keeps their distance. And Jesus embraces this intimate dedication to us when says that I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
Disclosure. Transparency. Availability. Protection. Affection. This speaks to the deepest part of our souls and helps us feel less alone in a world “when people can be so cold. They'll hurt you, and desert you. And take your soul if you let them, oh yeah, don't you let them!”
So yes, the Trinity is this kind of friend, and we are ever and always the Beloved. Yet we also need “God with skin on”… which is human touch, human embrace, the fierceness of human love. I hope you have at least one or two in that category of your life!
finding our way home
When it comes to real soul-friends, are you rich or poor? Who has this capacity for you… and what can you do to strengthen it? Who needs you to be this kind of a friend to them… and what would that look like right now? And then, God: How do you experience deep friendship with the Maker of all?
takeaway
A friend sticks closer than a brother.